Persona: Imagining Project
by KnightSpark
Summary: Kai Kyozo did not arrive in Naniwa City to get shot, discover a broken alternate dimension via mirror or to be caught up in a war between a security company and an extremist group. Or to recieve a strange power, for that matter. Many people fate is impossible to resist. Kai and his motley crew of fools intend on proving those people wrong.
1. Chapter 1: Arrival

**KS: Hello again, people. It is I, KnightSpark. For those of you who didn't know, I have been looking up something interesting lately. And that something was called: Persona 5: Imagining Project. Just so you know, I was aware that the whole thing was fanmade by some YouTuber named AtlusxP5. Although, it seems that they have fallen off the face of the earth, leaving this thing to collect dust. Now, despite the fact of how bogus this thing is, it really caught my interest. So, I decide to make a fanfic out of it. However, I am open to any suggestions on how I can improve the story, and before you asking, I am not taking any OC requests. I already got the characters planned out. Anyway, enjoy the story. **

* * *

Train en route to Naniwa City

April 12 – 2:01 PM

_Attention passengers. We will be arriving shortly at Naniwa City Station._ _Repeat: we will be arriving at Naniwa City Station.  
_

The sound of the intercom woke up a young man with a medium build who was sleeping on the train. He had short, black and hair dark eyes. Another notable fact about him is that he wore black from head to top. Black unbuttoned shirt, black pants and black shoes. It wouldn't a surprise if someone thought he was a goth.

"So, Naniwa City, huh? Sound like a place I can get used to," the man said to himself. He stood up and took his travel bag out of the train compartment. Then, he opened it to see if he had everything he needed on his trip. Luckily, it was all there: his laptop, phone, toothbrush, books, earphones and a picture of his family, which mostly comprised of his mother, father, twin sister and himself. His mother had light skin and dark eyes, but her hair was white longer and part of it covered her left eye. He got his current looks from his father, who also had the same hair style and colour. Finally, his sister resembled her mother with her hair style.

"I wonder how they are all doing now that I'm moving to Naniwa," he thought aloud. His thoughts were interrupted when his phone began to ring. He picked the device up and tapped the 'answer' button.

"Hello?"

_"Yeah, is this Kai Kyozo I'm speaking to?"_ the caller asked. Kai smirked a little.

"If it wasn't, would I even bother answering?" He heard the man roar with laughter.

_"You're really funny, aren't you? I guess you got that from your old man_._"_

"I've been told. But more importantly, who am I speaking to?"

_"Ah, I almost forgot to introduce myself," _the man responded. "_My name is Ryuzaki Ishimoto, a professor at Kirimaru University. If you didn't know before, I was a childhood friend of your father, and he enrolled you at Kirimaru as favour to me."_

"Why, did he owe you money or something?" Kai asked.

_"No, no... it's go far beyond money."_

"What do you mean?"

"_About two months ago, your father got into some trouble with the Public Security Intelligence Agency and they have been keeping a close on him and the rest of your family since then," _Ishimoto answered. Kai began show great concern.

"Wait a minute, what kind of trouble did my father get into?"

_"That I can't tell you. For all we know, the PSIA may be listening in on our conversation. I don't want your train ride to be interrupted by some black helicopters chasing you down like an escaped convict."_

"That's true... I guess."

"_Anyway, I have to go now. I'll be at the station to pick you up, okay?_"

"Okay."

"_Great. See you soon."_

The call disconnected after that, but something still plagued Kai's mind. What trouble did his father get into, and why won't Ishimoto say anything about it?

"Well, guess I'll find out eventually."

* * *

Naniwa City Station

April 12 - 3:21 PM

Kai stood in front of the station, looking for the professor. He said that he would pick him up by the time he got there, but he wasn't anywhere in sight. Probably due to the large amount of people lingering around, in the same situation as he was.

"Hey, Kai! Over here!" a voice called out him. Kai turned to his left to see a middle-aged man waving to him. He had light brown hair and green eyes. He wore a black suit with a red tie and had brown dress shoes. Kai assumed that he was the professor he talked to on the phone.

"You're Ishimoto, right?" he asked the man as he walked up to him. He grinned widely in response.

"If I wasn't, I wouldn't be waving at your, now would I?" he chuckled. Kai chuckled as well, knowing that he used his own joke against him.

"Yeah, good one. So where is this university at, anyway?" he asked the professor.

"It's a few blocks from here, so we'll be there shortly," Ishimoto answered. "Although, seeing how you just got here, I'll need to fill in some papers so you can be an official student. But if you'd like, I could give you a tour of the place so you can be familiar with your new surroundings."

"Sure, I can live with that," Kai said. He looked behind the professor to see a black sports car. How could a university professor afford sports car?

"Hey, is that your car over there?" he asked pointing to the vehicle.

"No, I'm just borrowing it from a friend. Did you really think I could afford such a thing on my damn salary? I couldn't afford a scooter if I wanted to."

"Well, I'd say you blew all your savings on liquor and women. And I'm thinking that it's 51% of the latter," Kai inquired. Ishimoto laughed it off.

"That's a good one, thinking I spend all my money on that sort of thing." Kai thought he was hallucinating, but he could've sworn he saw the professor sink down in shame after he walked towards the car.

"So, what is Kirimaru like, anyway?" he asked as he got into the car.

"Oh, it's great. We have a great basketball team, a lot of extracurricular activities and a wide variety of different students with unique qualities," Ishimoto explained while starting it up.

"What kind of 'unique qualities'?" Kai asked, raising a brow.

"...You'll know it when you see them," Ishimoto answered. The two drove off, heading to what was sure to be the start of a new adventure... for Kai that is.

* * *

**KS: Now before I get to concluding this chapter, I just wanted to let you all know something. While I was looking up on Persona 5, I noticed a video that had the same name of what I typed (even though it was fanmade). The video was called 'Motley Crew of Fools', and boy did it amaze me. Also, the video showed some silhouettes of what would've been the initial party. Also, I made some minor changes to them. And here they are:**

**Kai Kyozo (Leader) - Arcana: The Fool, Persona: ?, Weapon: One-Handed Sword**

**Kazuya Gavin - Arcana: The Magician, Persona: Heyoka, Weapon: Shurikens**

**Asuka Kurihara - Arcana: The Empress, Persona: Eve, Weapon: Polearm**

**Shingo Yamato - Arcana: The Chariot, Persona: Wukong, Weapon: Nunchucks**

**Hibana Osawa - Arcana: The Strength, Persona: Oya, Weapon: Guitar **

**Now, I'm sure you've seen the different was a Persona was summoned. P3 had this gun-like object called an Evoker, where you put it your head and pull the trigger (although God know why they came up with that method) and out comes the Persona. P4 basically lets you summon a Tarot card and destroy it to summon a Persona. But how do Personas get summoned here? Well... you'll have to find out in the next chapter, so stay tuned.**


	2. Chapter 2: First Impression

**KS: Quick note, this is just a small edit. I needed to adjust the other characters a little bit.**

* * *

Kirimaru University – Front Entrance

April 12 - 4:21 PM

Kai has heard a lot of things involving Kirimaru University, but seeing the building in front of him exceeded his expectations. For one thing, the windows of the complex looked spotless, and the walls were completely graffiti-free. Another thing is how the teachers deal with their students. There were those who were kind and caring to those who behaved well, and those who were strict and harsh toward those who thought it would be a good idea to bend the rules a little. But the most surpising thing Kai witnessed were the students themselves. They were all doing their own thing, and they appear to show great joy and pride in doing them. To his left, he saw a red-haired girl with violet eyes in a black leather jacket and revealing purple tube top playing her guitar beautifully. The girl also had blue shorts and pink sandals. To his right, he saw a man with orange hair and green eyes attempt to pick up girls with lines he made up, but seeing how the girls he hit on brush him off or kick him in the groin, he was less than sucessful. He was wearing a grey buttoned-up coat, black pants and grey shoes. He also had a light beard on his face. And in front of him was a woman with long, radiant purple hair and sharp gray eyes who was surrounded by boys that looked as if they worshipped the ground she walks on, but the woman acted like they weren't there. She wore a white turtleneck with a belt wrapped around it and had a red scarf around her neck. She also had black stockings covering her legs and had matching high-heel shoes.

"Taking in the scenery, I see," Ishimoto said behind him. Kai turned to see the professor taking his suit case out of his car. "Well, shall we?"

"We shall," he replied. The two walked towards the interior of the building, moving past the students who were taking a good long look at the newcomer. Some were bright, welcoming looks, some were neutral, and others were dark and oppressing, like they wanted him dead the moment he stepped foot on their turf.

"You just got here and already you've gotten popular," Ishimoto said.

"Yeah, but probably not in a good way..." Kai muttered.

* * *

Kirimaru University – Faculty Room

April 12 – 4:31

The faculty room was just as Kai suspected it would be. A medium sized room with computers on each side, cabinets filled with student and teacher profiles and of course, the people who help with keeping the school afloat: the teachers.

"It's like a freakin' beehive in here," Kai whispered to himself. He saw teachers scurrying left and right, organizing papers and writing up tests. It looked as if they weren't paying attention to the new student that was standing around in the middle of this chaos.

"Are you Kyozo?" a cold, strict voice called out behind him. Kai nearly shivered when he heard it, but was able to keep his composure. He turned around to see a woman with an unfriendly expression. She had a slender frame, short green hair, brown eyes and light skin. She wore black rimmed glasses, a black suit that shows most of her cleavage, a short skirt that had the same color and left most of her legs exposed. Also, she had platform heels that were grey.

"Yeah, I'm Kai Kyozo. Who wants to know?" he asked the woman. She shot an unamused glare at him.

"Well, you must know, my name is Natalia Fujimiya. And as much as it pains me to say it, I will be your homeroom teacher." Kai couldn't help but blink in confusion.

"W-Wait a minute, I thought that Ishimoto was going to-" Fujimiya put her index finger to his mouth and shook her head in disappointment and annoyance.

"You didn't really think that fool would be your homeroom teacher, did you?"

"Well... kind of."

"Really? Then allow me to enlighten you. Ishimoto is not suited to be a teacher. I'm surprised he was even allowed to step foot on the school grounds! Even worse, the dean has the gall to give him a good paycheck and how does he repay him? He spends it on cheap liquor and disease-ridden, silicone-bearing whores! That is not the kind of man that should be in charge of educating these students! So forgive me for disillusioning you, but just know that's how I feel about that man." She then opened a drawer next to her, took out a slip of paper presented to him. "Anyway, you're in the Boys' Dorm, Room 216. It's south of this building, so you can't miss it."

Kai could not believe what he had just heard. He just met Fujimiya, and she speaks ill his father's friend right in front him. At this rate, he couldn't care what he would happen to him after what he was about to do. No one, not even a teacher, has the right to insult a close friend to his family.

"Look, you might think I'm stepping out of line by saying this, but I'm going to do it anyway. You may think that Ishimoto-san is a drunk and a womanizer, but there's a lot more to him than that. He is a hard-working, selfless individual who has paid his debt to society more time than anyone can remember, and I should know. I was there with him when he was helping out with the aftermath of that storm five years ago. I don't know where you got this crap from, or why you've held on to it, but I don't want to hear anymore of it." Eveyone in the faculty room turned to see Kai put down a teacher on his first day. "You talk like you know him, but I bet you've never even met the guy. So I were you, I'd shut my mouth and get to know a person before judging them, or better yet, don't say anything at all because you are stuck-up, high-maitenance, unsocialble, arrogant bitch who couldn't have a close friend even you paid him! So just do everyone around here a favour, and shut the hell up!"

The whole room went silent. What everyone had just witnessed might as well go down in history. A young man on his first day at a new university talked down to a superior about her bad habit of badmouthing other people without getting to know them. Fujimiya grit her teeth, and had a new expression that was a cross between anger and bewilderment. As for Kai, he felt his courage rise up knowing that he stood up against what would've been the most intimidating woman Kirimaru. Without saying another word, he left the room leaving Fujimiya a stuttering mess. Then, for a brief second, he returned, removing the paper holding the location of his dorm room from her cold hand.

"Forgot this," he casually said as he walked out of the room for the last time. "I hope none of teachers are like her, or I'm going to have on hell of a year."

* * *

**KS: DAMN! First day and already he's making his mark by dissing one of the teachers! How will this play out in the long run? Oh, on a side note, for those of you anticipating the arrival of the Velvet Room, don't worry. It'll be arriving very soon. So, until that time, comment , follow and fave, people, and I will see you in the next chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3: Velvet Room

**KS: Finally got this chapter up and running, what with the lousy internet I have. Anyway, this is where the Velvet Room is gonna make an appearance as I mentioned in the last chapter. Oh, one more thing. I figured the name of Kai's Persona, but I'm not going to reveal it until later. Don't worry, he'll be coming soon. Also, three of the main party members I mentioned in the first chapter are making a appearance. Now without further ado, enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

Kirimaru University – Boys Dorm

April 12 – 4:35

"Of all the biased, closed-minded, ignorant things one person can say. God, it makes my blood boil just remembering it," Kai growled as he walked toward his assigned room in the Boys Dorm. He was still torn up about what Fujimiya said about Ishimoto. She had the nerve to insult his father's life-long friend right in front of him without any regret. At least, she would have if Kai hadn't told her off and called her a b in front of all the teachers.

"I just know for a fact that what I did is going to bite me in the ass later on," he sighed. He walked for a few seconds until he reached a door that had the number '216' on it.

"Well, looks like I'm in the right spot." He put his hand on the knob, turned it and opened the door. When he got in, his eyes widened at the interior. It was almost the same size as a master bedroom, with two beds on opposite sides of the room, a smooth wooden floor and a window with a perfect view of the main building. However, that wasn't what caught his attention.

"What the hell…" Was all Kai could let out as he witnessed what was on the left side of the room. There were posters of beautiful women wearing maid outfits, nurse outfits and even swimsuits. There was even a year's worth of magazines on the bed, which Kai couldn't help but check out. He picked up a magazine and started to flip through the pages.

"What kind of a person keeps this kind of stuff lying around like it's no big deal?"

"The same person who's sharing a room with someone who doesn't know how to respect one's privacy," a smooth voice called out. Kai sharply turned around to see the same man he saw in front of the main building.

"Um… Look man, I didn't mean anything. It was just sitting there and I-"

"Hey, don't freak out about it. I do this all the time and don't give one quarter of a damn about what anyone thinks." He put his hand out, expecting Kai to shake it. "By the way, my name's Kazuya Gavin."

"Kai Kyozo," he replied, shaking his hand.

"Hey, didn't I see you at the entrance a few minutes ago?"

"Yeah, I was with Ishimoto-san. He's a friend of my father."

"Interesting," he said, rubbing his beard. "Aren't you the same guy that called Fujimiya-san a bitch in front of every teacher in the faculty room?" Kai couldn't help but rub the back of his neck while heavily sighing.

"Boy, news travels fast around here."

"Well, you can thank the 'King of the Network' for that. Whenever something catches his eye he can't help but put in his blog."

"Oh really? What does he call it?"

"It's called…" Kazuya leaned in closer until he inch away from Kai's face and whispered, "…The Vault." Kai let out a disinterested scoff, making Kazuya raise an eyebrow. "What? What is it?"

"You get up in my face and whisper such an unoriginal name for a blog? Not to mention the fact that you obviously forgot to take a mint or some mouthwash, for God's sake," he said while pushing Kazuya away. The man chuckled and put arm around Kai.

"You're a funny guy, you know?"

"I was told that I have a tongue that sharper than any sword ever made," Kai joked, which made Kazuya laugh.

"Boy, do you have a sense of humor," he said while wiping away a tear caused by his laughing. He finally stopped and walked towards the door. He gestured Kai to come along with him.

"Where are we going?"

"I'm gonna take you on a little tour. And believe me, you'll enjoy every bit of it."

"Okay, but just know that I'm gonna back out if we're lurking around the girls' shower rooms." Kazuya fell when he heard that.

"Come on, man. Don't do that. I'm not that big a pervert."

"So you admit to being a pervert."

"Ye- No! Damn it! Can't believe I walked into that," he muttered while walking out the door. "But rest assured," he continued, turning to Kai and giving him a hard look. "I am _not_ a pervert."

"Sure, those mags and posters prove that your absolutely _not _a pervert."

"Man, shut up."

"Is there a dakimakura under your bed or something?"

"I said shut up!"

* * *

Kirimaru University – Library

4:49

"Here we have the library," Kazuya said in a cheery tone. "It's the second largest room in this school, and the most boring."

"I don't know, it looks like a nice place to study," Kai said, taking in the sights. What Kazuya said was true. The library was pretty large indeed. It had two floors, an expansive collection on books and tables with computers to find information online. He also noticed a door to the far left of him that had the words 'Private Study Room' on it.

"I see you're eyeing the Makeout Room," Kazuya said with a sly grin. Kai looked at him with confusion.

"What are you talking about, man? It clearly says 'Private Study Room'."

"That's just a front. Sure, it was built so student can study privately, but it became much more. So much more."

"So what you're saying is the study… became the hottest makeout spot on this campus?" Kazuya gave Kai a pat on the back.

"You catch on quick, dude. Oh, one word of advice: If you manage to get lucky, remember to use these." He reached into his coat pocket and started to hand Kai something, until…

"KAZUYA! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" a voice shrieked out, which the librarian naturually shushed. When he heard the voice, Kazuya facepalmed.

"What's up, man? Who was that?" Kai asked. Kazuya turned to him with a irritated look.

"That… is someone you do not want to piss off, dude. Trust me," he groaned. Kai looked toward the entrance and saw the purple haired woman march toward them with a very, _very _angry look on her face. And it was directed at Kazuya.

"What is it, Asuka? I'm giving this fine gentleman a tour here," Kazuya said casually, inwardly hoping not to provoke the woman anymore than he has to.

"Don't play innocent with me, you lecherous scum," the woman spat. Kai couldn't believe what this woman was saying. He just dealt with one disrespectful person, and he didn't have the patience to deal with another.

"Look Asuka, I swear my left hand to God I wasn't talking the new guy into doing something perverted on his first day here!" Kazuya whispered harshly.

"You could've fooled me!"

"So… You wanna introduce us or something?" Kai deadpanned. The duo stopped bickering and turned to him. Kazuya cleared his throat.

"Right, how could I forget." For some reason, he began to act like a butler, much to Kai's confusion and the woman's annoyance. "Kai, I formally present to you Miss Asuka Kurihara, heiress of the Kurihara Group and the Self-Exiled Imperial Princess of Naniwa."

Kai was speechless. He honestly couldn't find the words to say in this kind of situation. 'Self-Exiled Imperial Princess of Naniwa'? Who in the hell came up with that? Kai had a nagging feeling that Asuka didn't call herself that, not that anyone in their right mind would ever call themselves such a ridiculous title like that.

"Really? You're doing that self-exiled princess racket again? That's starting to get old, Kazuya. Knock it the hell off already?" Asuka asked irritably.

"You mean you didn't enjoy my little performance?" Kazuya asked, grinning widely.

"I didn't enjoy it since you keep calling me the 'Self-Exiled Imperial Princess' everytime we walk down the goddamn hall. Like I need an entourage of dumb, drooling boys following me around all day."

"But… It's pretty accurate. I mean, you came here to live with your mother ever since you had that fallout with-" Before could continue, he was kicked to the floor by a very angry Asuka, who had a scowl that could start a wildfire in seconds.

"Do. Not. Ever. Mention. My. Father. Ever. Again," she warned venomously before storming off. Kai blinked at least three times and tried to process what just happened.

"Yeah… Well, that's Asuka for you," Kazuya groaned, getting up from the floor while holding his hand on the spot where Asuka kicked him. "She's a real piece of work."

"No kidding," Kai said, rolling his eyes. "Why did kick you when you almost brought up her father?"

"Look man, I may have some intel about Asuka's relationship with her father, but that's really up to her on whether she wants to tell you or not. Believe me, I could tell you if I wanted to, but if I did, she'd find out somehow and hunt me down like a dog."

"That's understandable. So, what's next on the tour?"

Kazuya smiled. "You'll see."

* * *

Kirimaru University – Amphitheatre

5:11

Kai's eyes widened at what was in front of him. There was a large amphitheatre behind the campus with hundreds of seats in front of it. The amphitheatre it self was black on the outside and white on the inside, although God knows who came up with that.

"This thing is big."

"You want big?" Kazuya said, putting his hand on Kai shoulder. "Try being in the crowd when the 'War of Sounds' comes in April. Now that's freakin' big, dude."

"War of Sounds? What's that?"

"It's this big competition where the all the students and teachers get instruments, pick songs from any genre they wish, go up on that stage there and make total idiots out of themselves."

"What do you mean, make idiots out of themselves?"

"Some go up there drunk as hell, some stoned and others half-naked." Kai looked at Kazuya in shock.

"Half-naked? Why in the hell would anyone in their right mind go up their half naked?"

"Well, sometimes when they're drunk or stoned, they kinda…"

"Strip down to their underwear?" Kai answered before Kazuya finished his sentence.

"You catch on quick."

"It's a quirk."

"Heeeey, Ka-zu-yaaaaaa!" a voice called out from behind. Kazuya groaned and rubbed the sides of his head when he heard the voice, and Kai assumed from his body language that Kazuya knew who it was.

"Who was that?" he asked.

"The most loose and outgoing girl in the history of this school. Not to mention the fact that she dresses like a total bimbo."

"Bimbo?" Kai wondered if it was the red-haired girl he saw playing the guitar. He had to admit, her choice of clothing seemed more than a little… risky. Not enough to be a bimbo, he hoped. He suddenly got glomped from behind by the aformentioned girl, as he noticed when he turned his head toward her.

"Awwww, don't say mean things about me behind my back, babe," the girl whined while pouting. Kai shoved her away and backed a few steps away from her, worried what else she might do.

"Kazuya, who is this?"

"That is Hibana Osawa, a girl loves to rock and loves to flash her goods any chance she gets," he groaned.

"Goods?"

"You know what I mean."

"I think I have a good idea, but please clarify." Hibana got in between the boys and got a little too close to Kai. She had a naughty look in her eyes, making Kai uncomfortable.

"Please, when it comes to goods, you don't need some dumb verbal explanation," Hibana said seductively, shedding off her leather jacket and started to lift her tank top over her head. "You need to see the real deal for yourself!"

"For God's sakes, Hibana! Cut that the hell out!" Kazuya shouted, picking up Hibana's jacket and throwing it at her before she could expose herself. "Look, the last thing I need is to be caught in another incident involving you and you constant flashing. I'm just trying to give this guy a tour of the place and I don't need any… distractions."

"Distractions? Baby, I can do better than distractions…"

"Oh for the love of- come on, Kai, let's get out of here before she does something that will get us both in trouble," Kazuya said hurriedly as he dragged Kai by the back of his shirt. Unable to break free from the alleged pervert's grip, he waved goodbye to Hibana which the latter responded by turning her back and bending over, showing off her short shorts to the man which had the kanji for 'lust' on the right side of it, making the young man blush.

"So, what's our next destination, man?" Kai asked as he was dragged away from the amphitheatre.

"The one place I know we won't be ambushed by anyone trying to kill or flirt with me," Kazuya growled.

* * *

Kirimaru University – Cafeteria

5:34

"I gotta say man, this is one huge cafeteria," Kai said, looking around. It was a huge cafeteria. There were lots of tables with students on laptops, reading books or eating and exchanging gossip. Many stands for different types of foods were all around him. He was smiling widely at the social activity, but it faded when he turned to Kazuya, who had a sour look on his face due to unpleasant circumstances. "Look man, I honestly doubt anyone is gonna walk up to you and make your day even worse than it already is." Kazuya shot an annoyed glance at Kai.

"Oh yeah? Well, let me tell you something greenhorn," he said, putting his arm around him again. "This school isn't as great as people claim it to be." Kai raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the teachers are good at their job, but majority of them say that 'every student that come through the doors is destined for failure', or 'it doesn't take a psychic to know that their future is bleak' and other crap like that. If you ask me, I think these teachers gave up on us the moment this place was built." This was a hard blow for Kai. He heard a lot of great things about Kirimaru from his parents, sister and even Ishimoto, but they somehow left out the fact that the faculty had very little faith in the student's success. That disappointed him greatly. Kazuya took note of his expression and turned away from him, feeling guilty for telling him about the teachers opinion of the students. He must've been excited to check out the campus and what it had to offer.

"The teachers here must be drunk or on drugs or something."

Kazuya swiftly turned his head around to Kai. What possessed him to say something like that, he didn't know, but he had to find out.

"What are you talking about, dude?" Kai turned to Kazuya, looking angry. But not at the person in front of him.

"The teachers can't possibly think that every student that comes here is doomed from the start. That's just stupid. I mean, think about it. If they thought that students wouldn't get make it, would they even bother with building what we are standing in right now. What everyone is standing in? I think not! And what's with this 'fate and destiny' crap? What, do they think they're fortune tellers or something?" Kai didn't realize that he started to raise his voice as he spoke. It got the attention of a few people that were close to him, but he didn't notice as he went on with his speech.

"They think that we're just losers desperately seeking a purpose in life. They think that our parents are wasting time and money by sending us here. They think that we are unworthy of getting a proper and thorough education!"

A small group of students began to murmur in agreement. Kai noticed this and smirked a little, glad that some people were getting the picture. He continued, only louder than before.

"You wanna know what I think? I think that the teachers are too damn lazy to actually do their job and assume that we're going to fail before we begin. They even don't make an effort and try to guide us through it!" The crowd's agreement became louder. "I think that we should do something that will really shock them! We should go out there and prove we're not a waste of space here! I may be new here, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let the reputation of this school go down in the pit!" Kai stood up on a table for everyone in the cafeteria so they can see him better. "But let's not get too crazy, alright? I'm not trying to start riots or anything, I'm just voicing out my opinion here. Let's all prove those idiot teachers wrong, eh?"

With that, he stepped down from the table to met with a large round of applause and handshakes from fellow students he passed by. He felt really good. He got something off his chest and man, did it paid off. He also managed to get others to understand how he felt about the teachers' work ethics. Everyone in the cafeteria surrounded him, giving endless praise and promises in bettering themselves for the sake of their school.

"You got some nerve pulling a stunt like that on your first day!"

Everyone stopped cheering for a moment. They looked around to find who disagreed with Kai, only to find none other than Asuka marching towards him with a scowl deadlier than the last one.

"Oh hey," Kai said, attempting to greet the angry woman. "Asuka, was it?"

"You shut up right now, you bastard."

Everyone let out a huge gasp. Kai just let out an amused chuckle.

"Bastard? What did I ever do to deserve that?"

"Oh, I don't know, how about openly insulting this great school in a public place? You should be ashamed of yourself!" She prepared to slap Kai, only to have a young man from the crowd grab her hand before it made contact with Kai's face.

"Listen here, you little brat. This guy was just talking about what everyone was just thinking. If you got a problem with it, get the hell out of here." Asuka grit her teeth and freed herself from the man's grasp.

"Like you know everything that goes on here! The teachers are hardworking, determined and-"

"Enough with that crap, alright? It's starting to tiring. The only reason your skinny ass is here is because your daddy threw you away like last week's newspaper." That drove Asuka to the edge. She spat in the man's face and slapped him so hard that he landed on a nearby table.

"Don't you ever speak about my father in front of me ever again!" she shrieked. The man got up from the table, turned around and gave Asuka a murderous look. From the look of it, he did not like what she did to him.

"Alright. I tried to play nice with you, you little bitch…" he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a gun. Kai widened his eyes in horror, as he had a good idea of what he was going to do.

"BUT YOU CROSSED THE FREAKIN' LINE!" he aimed towards Asuka, preparing to silence her by shooting her in the heart.

"NO!"

At least, he would have if Kai didn't push her out of the way and took the hit for her. A loud gunshot rang out. The bullet struck him on his chest and he began to stagger. He covered the wound with his hand, attempting the stop the bleeding, but it was in vain as he fell to the dropped to the floor almost instantly. Asuka let out a horrified shriek as the whole cafeteria went silent.

* * *

Unknown Location

?

_Damn it… That hurt… What the hell was up with him… That wasn't what I had planned… Wait… Where am I…? _

Kai started to open his eyes slowly. He his pants, shoes, blue floor- wait a minute. Blue floor? Kai bent down to get a closer look. Yep, that floor was blue, alright. He looked to his left to see a rail of some sort. When he got up from his chair, walked up to it. He saw an endless body of water, expanding as far as the eye can see. He moved to the other side and there was water there to. After seeing the evidence firsthand, Kai came to a realization as he sat down and rubbed his eyes.

"I'm on a boat. In the middle of nowhere."

"Ah... it seems we have a new guest."

Kai shot up and frantically looked around to see who was talking to him. He looked to the right of him. No one was there. He looked to the left of him. No one was there either. Finally, he looked to the front of him. There he saw two people in front of him. The one was a very bizzare-looking man as he had hair around the back of his head but not on it, a wide grin and a long nose. His eyes were closed, so Kai couldn't tell what colour they were. The man was dressed in a nice suit at least, so he decided to let the other stuff slide. The person standing beside him looked younger. He had smooth, white hair with part of it covering his left eye, which had a golden colour and pale skin. He wore a blue button-up shirt with short sleeves with the letter 'V' engraved on the left pocket, black suit pants with blue stripes on the side and black and blue checkered shoes. Kai blinked to see that he wasn't hallucinating. The two men were still there, so it was not a hallucination.

"What's going on? Where in the hell am I?"

When Kai asked that, the man sitting in a chair that was slightly bigger than his and was blue opened his bloodshot eyes, freaking Kai out a little. What came from his mouth shocked Kai to no end.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is only available to those who are bound to a contract."

_Contract? I don't remember making any contracts._

"My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your aquaintance," the man introduced himself. He then motioned to the man standing next to him. "This is my assistant, Victor."

Nice to meet you, whoever you are," Victor said with a big grin on his face. Kai was dazed for a second, but quickly snapped out of it and introduced himself.

"Right, well, my name is Kai Kyozo." Igor nodded, and wave his hand, making appear in between them.

"Do you believe in fortune telling, Kai?" Kai let out a heavy sigh.

"At the rate this is going, I'll believe anything." He noticed that there were cards face down on the table. Igor flipped one of them over to reveal a picture of a figure in a hat carrying a bindle over his shoulder. Below the picture was the number '0'.

"I see you are intrigued, yes. The number '0' may be empty, but leaves it with room for a great amount of potential."

"Uh-huh," Kai said, not understanding a word Igor said to him.

"I am certain you have many questions you want answered, but that will have to wait for another time."

"Oh, and one more thing," Victor said, pulling out from behind him a blue tablet with the 'V' on the back of it. "Here's a little something as proof of your contract." He typed into the tablet and a key dropped onto the table. Without questioning it, Kai reached out and took the item off the table and into his pocket.

"Thanks, I guess."

"Until we meet again. But before that, allow me to give you a warning." Kai's eyes began to widen.

"Warning? What warning?"

"Control your fate before your fate controls you."

"Wait, what did you mean by-" Kai was unable to finish his question as his vision faded.

* * *

**KS: Oh, how I love those words. And the Velvet Room is a boat now. That's gotta be something. And the Velvet Room is now a boat. Pretty sweet, huh? We'll see what happens after Kai gets shot and how others will react to it. See you 'till then, people. Peace. **


	4. Chapter 4: Through the Looking Glass

**KS: We're building up to the main event, people. Just one chapter away from revealing Kai's Persona. Just sit tight and hope for the best.**

* * *

Naniwa Municipal Hospital – Room 237

April 14 – 6:21 AM

"It's amazing how he's still alive. With a shot like that, he should've been a goner."

"Yeah, and if he didn't step in like he did, _you'd_ be a goner."

"That's true. I should make it up to him when he wakes up."

"In more ways than one, if you ask me."

"Shut up! I didn't mean it like that!"

Kai started to stir a little bit. And eventually, he opened his eyes. The first thing that he saw was Kazuya and Asuka hovering over him. He sat up, rubbed his eyes and looked at the two blankly.

"Would someone care to explain what in the sweet hell just happened?" he asked.

"Well, to put it in a nutshell, your speech managed to win the favor of every student in the café, apart from Miss Self-Exile over here," Kazuya said, gesturing to Asuka, much to her annoyance. "She was going to rip you a new one about 'how much of an idiot you were being' or some crap, then some dude starts to defend you and she gets pissed off, slaps the bastard, making him pull his piece out and preparing to shoot her only for you to step in the and take the bullet for her. Quite heroic in my opinion."

"Well, I didn't asked to be saved, thank you very much," Asuka huffed, turning the other way while crossing her arms.

"Wow, I'm feeling a great sense gratitude from you, Miss Self-Exile," Kai deadpanned. Asuka grabbed Kai by his collar and forcefully brought him to her eye level.

"Call me that again, and I'll put you in a coma," she growled.

"I think I've been in enough comas for one lifetime."

"Why you-"

"Alright, alright, knock it off," Kazuya said, stepping in between the two. "Asuka, the man just saved your life and now you're trying to kill him for making a little crack at you. Doesn't that strike you as being inconsiderate?"

"If he was less of an idiot, then I wouldn't have to be."

Kai glanced sharply at Asuka. "How am I an idiot?"

"You jumped in front of a speeding bullet. If that's not being an idiot, then I don't know what is."

"That was me saving your goddamn life."

"I didn't ask you to save me!"

"If I didn't, that bullet could've killed you!"

"You don't know that!"

"Oh, what are you, an expert in ballistics all of a sudden?"

"No, but at least I'm not some sarcastic bonehead who has to make a dry remark every five seconds!"

"PEOPLE!" Kazuya yelled. Kai and Asuka flinched at the tone of his voice. Kazuya cleared his throat and began to speak more calmly. "If your going to exchange blows at one another, at least wait until one of you is discharged from here. Last thing we need is a nurse walking in here with a noise complaint."

And right on cue, a nurse with an annoyed expression walked into the room, getting the trio's attention.

"See what I'm talking about?" Kazuya said, turning to Kai and Asuka.

"Shut up," Asuka huffed. "You got lucky on that one."

"Lucky, my foot. With the all the noise you two were making, I wouldn't surprised if the cops arrived to tell you to keep it down."

"Ahem."

They turned to the nurse who was tapping her foot impatiently. Kazuya walked up to her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Look, if it's about the racket, we're sorry about that. We'll try to be more quiet for the sake of the patients," he said sincerely, giving a small smirk. The nurse's expression lightened a bit and eventually smiled. She then turned to Kai.

"Kyozo, was it?" she asked. Kai nodded. "I'm happy to inform you that you've made a swift recovery. But for reason, the bullet you were hit with barely pierced you."

Kai's eyes widened in shock. "What the hell are you going on about?"

"I mean, when the doctor proceeded to extract the bullet, he saw that it didn't even make halfway. I was pretty shocked to hear about it myself."

"But… but how?"

The nurse shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine, kid."

"I'm 19, just so you know."

"Whatever. Anyway, seeing how your still alive and kicking, you're able to leave whenever you feel like it."

"Thank you. I appreciate it."

The nurse bowed and exited the room.

"So… when do classes start?"

Kazuya and Asuka stared at Kai with widened eyes and open mouths.

"You're kidding, right?" Asuka asked.

"No, I'm not. I would like to know when classes start.

"Dude, you got shot for God's sake," Kazuya snapped. "Don't you think you take it easy for a while?"

"I've been taking it easy ever since I blacked out. Last thing I need is to fall behind on my studies."

Asuka smiled a little at his conviction. "You see, Kazuya? That right there is a fine example of the model student. You should take some notes from his attitude."

"I don't need to take notes on jack," Kazuya countered. "Besides, I don't have to be a model student, nor do I want to."

"You could be if you just got rid of all the filth you were hoarding."

Kazuya blushed furiously hearing that. "I-It's not my filth!"

Asuka's smirk quickly turned into a glare. "Don't try to deny it. Almost everyone on campus knows you can't go five minutes without looking at some bimbo in a tight bikini."

"You don't know that."

"I sit behind you in every class we've been in. And whenever I look over your shoulder, you're always hiding some illicit magazine behind your textbook."

"I don't remember asking you to look over my shoulder."

"Please. You practically present those damnable magazines when reading them. I can almost hear the pages scream-"

"God, you two are like an old married couple," Kai groaned, getting out of his bed. "Settle this little lover's spat for when we get back to campus, alright?" Kazuya and Asuka glared at one another, then turn away and huffed.

"Sure, dude."

"Whatever."

* * *

Kirimaru University – Room 129

8:40 AM

Fresh from his recent attack, Kai stood in front of at least 40 students in the room. In the middle of the room, he saw Kazuya and Asuka quietly continuing their little squabble. Kai silently prayed that they wouldn't go at all day.

"Alright, worms, shut up and pay attention," a harsh voice ordered. Kai turned to the doorway and groaned at the sight of the very teacher he silenced for insulting a family friend.

"Well, well, Fujimiya-san. You were the last person I expected to come through that door… and I was hoping it would stay that way," Kai quipped, earning a few 'oohs' from the students and a deadly glare from Fujimiya.

"Very funny, Kyozo," she growled while walking toward him. "But you forgot one little detail."

Kai threw Fujimiya a playful smirk. "Oh? And whatever would that be?"

"You are in my classroom, and therefore…" she reached out, tightly gripped Kai's collar and pulled him closer until their faces were an inch apart before venomously saying: "You play by _my _rules. Am I clear?"

"Whatever you say, Your Highness."

Fujimiya let out a sigh of irritation and turned to the class. "Now, as all of you losers are aware, this fool recently enrolled here, but before he could settle in, he was shot trying to while defending one person in this classroom. As for the person in question, you know who you are, so there is no need to draw attention to yourself… Kurihara."

Asuka glared at the teacher and raised her middle finger at her, which the latter shrugged off.

"Now, introduce yourself before I change my mind about letting you set foot in this room," she hastily ordered. Kai rolled his eyes at her and faced the class.

"My name is Kai Kyozo. I am 19 years of age, my family loves me deeply and I'm a badass when it comes to basketball. My hobbies include driving fast cars, graffiti art and irritating bad people whenever I can." He slightly bowed and grinned to the class. "Hope we all can get along."

"Yes, yes, nice to meet you too, loser. Now go sit next to Yamato," Natalia ordered, pointing to an empty seat that was beside Kazuya and another student wearing a gray sleeveless jacket over a yellow hoodie, black pants and orange sneakers. The hood was pulled over his head so no one could see his eye or hair color. Kai walked over the desk and sat down next to the hooded student.

"Now that we've got that out of the way, we will continue our lesson," Fujimiya said.

* * *

Kirimaru University – Campus

9:55 AM

Kai sat on a bench in the middle of the campus area, reviewing his notes. The lesson he attended dragged on for a while and had some trouble staying awake, but he was able to get some information jotted down in case he was asked to answer a question.

"Dude, you really need to unwind more often."

Kai turned to his left to see Kazuya sitting beside him, holding a can of beer in his hand.

"Hey, I just don't want to fall behind. And unless I'm mistaken, isn't it against regulations to have alcohol on campus?" he asked.

"It's the best thing to drink when being stuck in a goddamn classroom for an hour. Really takes the edge off." He pulled out an extra can from his pocket and gave it to Kai. "You want some?"

"Nah, I'm cool," he declined. "I'm not that good with beer to be honest."

Kazuya raised an eyebrow. "Really? You're not good with beer?"

"Not a bit. In fact, when beer gets into my system, I start to act… weird."

"What do you mean 'weird'?" Kazuya asked.

"I don't know, really. Just weird." Kai answered. Kazuya shrugged and threw his empty can in a nearby wastebasket.

"Okay, then. If that's how it's gonna be, then I won't pry any further."

"Fine by me."

"Instead, you and I are going to take a little break from the next class."

Kai swiftly turned to Kazuya and stared in shock. "What do you mean, take a break?"

"I mean, let's blow this joint and go somewhere else to unwind. Besides, you got just got released from the hospital. You should be taking it easy," Kazuya advised.

Kai thought about it for a second. In a way, Kazuya had a point. He just got out of the hospital, and he probably shouldn't be straining himself by looking at complicated notes.

"Well, now that you bring it up, I could use a break or two."

Kazuya gave Kai a pat on the shoulder and stood up, grinning widely. "Great, dude. We'll take a little ride around the town together. That way you can get around easy. Sound good?"

"Sounds good," Kai said. "Where did you have in mind?"

* * *

Wakamono District – Downtown

10:10 AM

"This is a nice car, man," Kai complemented as he and Kazuya cruised down the road. He turned to the window and saw numerous apartment buildings, pawn shops and one-storey houses as they passed by. He also saw what appeared to be a police cruiser, but it was unlike any he had seen before.

"Yeah, I've had my eye on this fine piece of work for quite a while now, and I managed to get the necessary payments for it. Almost cost me an arm and a leg."

"Right, right. So the person who sold you this car… it wouldn't happen to be a girl, would it?" Kai asked, smirking.

"What do you mean?" Kazuya responded. Kai just turned away from Kazuya while keeping his smirk.

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

Kazuya was about to press further, until he noticed a few cars in front of him. He stuck his head out the window and saw what appeared to be a medium-sized gate guarded by two men wearing body armor and holding automatic rifles. He groaned as he went back inside the car, driving slowly.

"Hey man, what's the hold up?" Kai asked, noticing the lack of movement from the car.

"Something equivalent to border patrol," Kazuya growled. "Only much worse."

"Worse how?"

"They got guns and probably don't look like the type who take prisoners."

"Sure, but don't most border patrols have guns in case things get rough?"

"They've got rifles, man."

"What?"

"You heard me. And by the looks of 'em, they're probably military-grade."

"How do you know that?"

"I've seen them before. In fact, everyone at the university has seen those weapons before. And some come back telling the tale in bruises."

Kai looked shocked. "Please tell me your joking."

"Kazuya may joke a lot, but not when it comes to this," a sharp, yet feminine called out.

Kai and Kazuya nearly jump out of their seats when they heard Asuka speak up, who emerged from the back.

"Mother of god, Asuka," Kazuya gasped, looking in the rearview mirror. "What are you doing here?"

"I have a better question," Kai intervened. "_How _did you get in here?"

"I stole Kazuya's key and had it replicated," she answered simply.

"Why the hell would you do that?" Kazuya asked distainfully.

"Being the scion of a multi-billion conglomerate has its perks."

"We should probably move up," Kai said, interrupting the two. "There's a few people waiting behind us."

Kazuya nodded and drove up to the gate while Asuka leaned in the back with her arms and legs crossed. Soon, they reached the gate where the armed soldiers were guarding. One of them walked toward the car and tapped the window, making Kazuya turn it down.

"So, what are you here for?" the soldier gruffly asked.

"Just showing a new face around the neighbourhood," Kazuya answered, scowling at the man. "Is that gonna be a problem?"

"Only if you want it to be," the soldier replied.

"It's not gonna be a problem," Kai said. "Just let us through and we'll be out of your hair faster than you can say 'everyday's great at your Junes'." That last part elicted a small chuckle from the soldier.

"You're really funny, kid. If this wasn't my shift, I'd buy you a drink. That is, if you're available."

"Sorry sir, I don't swing that way," Kai declined. The soldier roared with laughter.

"Oh my god, you're a real comedian, kid! Just for that, I'll let you and your friends by on the house."

Kai smiled, knowing that he was able to make an gloomy soldier lighten up. A great show of expression on his part.

"Hey, Kisaragi, let these good people through, alright?"

"Got it," the other soldier replied. He pressed a button, allowing the gate to open. But as soon as it did, a flurry of gunfire emerged from it. Kai, Kazuya and Asuka immediately ducked down to avoid the oncoming rounds.

"What the hell was that?!" Kai yelled.

"If it's what I think it is, then we're in a whole world of trouble!" Kazuya yelled back.

"Damn it! They just don't know when to quit!" one the soldiers hissed as he loaded up his gun. The other soldier did the same thing. "Alright, it's probably just a small group, so let's hold 'em off as best as we can, got it?"

"Got it," the other soldier replied. The two headed up to the gate and started to return fire at the attackers. Kai slightly lifted his head to see four men wearing what appeared to be skate helmets, paintball masks, gray jackets over black shirts, ripped-up pants with kneepads and combat boots. Unlike the soldiers, they were armed automatic handguns and molotov cocktails. They started to advance toward the gate, but one soldier was able to shoot down of the thugs. However, the thug in the back took out a lit molotov and threw at the soldiers, causing them to freak out. Not wanting to get shot again, Kai scrambled out of the car and ran towards an abandoned store. This caught Kazuya and Asuka attention, and needless to say, they looked quite bewildered.

"What the hell are you doing, dude?!" Kazuya yelled to him.

"I'm trying to get this place so we can hide until this blows over!" Kai answered, breaking down the barricaded door.

"In what way do you think this will 'blow over'?!" Asuka shrieked.

"Look, if you want to get pumped with lead, that's alright with me," Kai snapped. "But I'm not getting shot again! Especially by those psychos!"

Kazuya and Asuka looked at each other, then quickly hopped out of the car and followed Kai into the abandoned building. Kai turned to see them and he let out a smirk.

"Wow, didn't think you'd be crazy enough to follow me in here."

"Well, considering the situation outside, you were on to something, hiding in this dump," Kazuya said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Whatever. I just didn't want to die," Asuka snapped, turning away and pouting. Kai and Kazuya chuckled and went deeper into the building with her following suit.

* * *

Wakamono District – Abandoned Building

10:32 AM

"Ugh… we've been wandering in this place for so long," Asuka moaned. "Did you think this through at all, Kai?"

"To be perfectly honest, I just needed somewhere to get away from the gunfight and ran to the nearest building I set my eyes on," he said. Asuka let out another groan, only this one was of disgust from Kai's lack of forethought. The trio have been walking around in the isolated complex searching for an exit. Unfortunately, it proved to be difficult due to the lack of light and maze like hallways.

"Whoever designed this place must've been high or something," Kazuya growled. "At this rate, by the time we find the exit, it'll be sundown."

"Come on, man, don't think like that," Kai scolded lightly. "The last thing we need to do in a situation like this is to doubt we'll make it through. We just gotta keep going until we find an exit."

"_If_ we find an exit," Asuka muttered. Kai was about to retort, until Kazuya called them over.

"Hey, I think I found something!"

They walked toward him and found a metal door with the words 'no entry' painted across it.

"That does not say 'exit', dumbass," Asuka hissed.

"We won't know unless we try. Now both of you help me out with this thing."

Kai and Asuka helped Kazuya open the heavy door. Normally, a single person wouldn't be able to budge it, but with the combined efforts of at least three people, it was almost easy to open. When they opened it, their eyes widened at what was behind the door. There was a room covered in maps and blueprints, as well as a workdesk containing many tools, along with a sword and a dog tag-shaped object next to it. And in the corner lied a plain standing mirror that had collected a fair amount of dust.

"So… I am at a loss for words here," Kazuya said.

"Me too," Asuka replied.

"Speak for yourselves," Kai said, walking over to the desk and picking up the sword. "Check this bad boy out." He swung the sword around like a ninja, making Asuka a little nervous.

"Cut that out, you moron," she snapped. "You're going to take out someone's eye if you just swing it around all recklessly."

"It's not the first time I've wielded a sword, if that puts you at ease," Kai said.

"I'll take your word for it."

Kai shrugged and examined the sword while Kazuya and Asuka looked at maps that were hanging off the wall.

"Whoever made this crap really needs to get out more," Kazuya said.

"I know," Asuka replied. "What do you think this is?"

"I'll tell you what this is," Kai called out, grabbing their attention. "This is a damn gyp, that's what it is."

"Care to elaborate, dude?" Kazuya requested.

"Okay, look," Kai said, attempting to remove the sword from its sheath, but for some reason, it wouldn't even move. "See what I'm talking about?"

"Yeah, weirdest thing I've seen," Asuka deadpanned. "While we're at it, why don't you find some ghosts in this old dump?" Kai scowled a little at her tone.

"Sure. I'll go find a ghost and be sure to introduce you to him." He picked up the dog tag and noticed an odd logo on the face of it. He put the tag in his pocket and walked towards the mirror. He could barely see his reflection due the thin layer of dust. As he used his sleeve to wipe away the dust from the glass, he saw a small ripple emerge from the object.

"Huh?"

Wondering if he has been hallucinating, Kai tapped on the glass with his finger and sure enough, another ripple appeared, causing him to jump back in shock.

"Holy crap," he said, shocked.

"What is it, dude?" Kazuya called out.

"I don't know really know. I just touched this mirror and it started to ripple."

"It rippled when you touched it?" Asuka scoffed, walking towards the mirror. "I don't believe it. Do it again so we can both see it."

"As much as I hate to agree with the exile, I want proof of this claim of yours," Kazuya added, walking towards the mirror as well.

Kai nodded and slowly reached his hand out to the mirror and lightly touched the glass, causing it to ripple. Kazuya and Asuka looked in shock to see the glass ripple in front of their very eyes.

"Holy hell, you weren't joking," Asuka gasped. Kai looked back at her and smirked.

"I only joke when it's necessary," he said plainly. Before she could reply, voices were heard from within the building.

"You sure they went in here?"

"What other explaination do you have for the busted door?"

"Forget about the door. The Puppet Master wants the Kurihara brat alive, so watch where you shoot."

"What about those guys she was with?"

"Bring them in as well. We could get some info out of them."

The trio looked at each other in shock. The thugs that were shooting at them had followed them into the building and are now searching for them.

"Damn! What are they doing here!" Asuka hissed.

"What are you talking about? Who are they?" Kai asked.

"Just a group of punks that have been hassling my family for over a decade."

"Wait, so you know these jokers?"

"Hey, let's dicuss this later," Kazuya interrupted, closing the heavy door and locking it. "Right now, we need to find a way out of here."

"Yeah, but there aren't any windows in here. Maybe a secret exit or something?" Kai suggested.

"Well, start looking before those goons get here," Kazuya ordered. In no time, they turned the room upside down looking for a hidden exit. Sadly, their efforts proved worthless as they couldn't find anything of the sort.

"Well, we're screwed now," Asuka groaned, throwing her hands up in frustration.

"I hate it when you're right," Kazuya muttered, resting his hand on the wall. Kai looked around the room, hoping that they overlooked something. Unable to find one, he turned his gaze to the mirror. He had a theory, but it may as well be considered a long shot at this point.

"We need to go through the mirror," he said. Kazuya and Asuka stared at him in shock.

"You're not joking, are you?" Kazuya asked.

"If I was joking, I would bring it up. Besides, this room contains no hidden exit, so I think it's safe to assume that mirror is our only way out of here."

"Okay, let's say that the mirror does get us out of here," Asuka stated. "But where will it take us?"

"If it's anywhere other than here, then that's alright with me."

* * *

"How can you tell that those punks went in here?" the first thug asked.

"Come on, man, just look at the marks on the floor." the second answered.

"What I'd like to know is how they managed to open this damn thing. It looks like it'd take a tow truck to pull it open." the third deducted.

"Well, lucky for us, we got the next best thing," the first said, pulling out a C4 bomb from his jacket pocket.

"How long have you had that?" the second asked.

"Since we got here. I was hoping for a time to use it, to be honest."

"You mean to say that while we were getting shot at, you had a bomb on you this whole damn time?" the third snapped.

"Yeah. Looks like we caught a lucky break, huh?"

"Just blast that door open before I beat you up."

The thug placed the C4 on the door and signalled the others to back away from it. He then took out a detonator and pressed the button, causing the bomb to explode and blast the door of the hinges. They immediately rushed into the room with their guns raised. Their targets were nowhere in sight, much to their disappointment.

"There's no way they could've escaped, man," the second thug groaned. "There's only one way out of this room."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," the third disagreed. "There is one possible way they gave us the slip." The other thugs turned their gaze to the mirror with widened eyes.

"You don't think…" the first started.

"…that they went through the mirror?" the second finished.

"It sure seems that way, boys," the third answered.

"Our brethren on the other side will be notified for sure. They'll get them and bring them to us soon enough," the first said.

"But… what if they don't get them?" the second asked. The third took a long, deep breath before speaking.

"If they don't get them… the Shadows will."

* * *

**KS: Looks like the Shadows are raring to go as well. Next chapter should be very interesting. On a side note, I'm thinking of doing a AU fic on Valkyria Chronicles. I would like to hear your thoughts on it. Maybe help me come up with a title name.**


	5. Chapter 5: Awakening

**KS: Hey, it's me again. It's the moment you've all been waiting for, people. Kai's Persona will be unleashed shortly. Oh, and if you notice the 'OST' marker, find the song with the same name to listen as you read the chapter. I mean, first you have to go on the tumblr page to download the soundtrack, but trust me, it will be worth it. Now... enjoy.**

* * *

Tsurugi District – Narumi Detective Agency

April 14 - 10:52 AM

(**OST: Get On Down)**

A woman was sitting at her desk in a small room. She had a fair complexion with short white hair, emerald eyes and slender build. She wore a unbuttoned white shirt, black pants and matching dress shoes. She also had a red bracelet on her left wrist.

"Damn it, are the cops in this city really that incompetent?" she muttered, tapping the desk with her pen in frustration. "Ever since Oracle took over, they've been just screwing around. Not that I really blame them, seeing how those trigger happy mercs are doing their job for them." She threw her pen away and laid her head down on the desk. "But where is their pride, for hell's sake? Surely they're not just gonna sit on their asses while those damned mercs run this town."

Just then, a ringing sound was heard across the room, causing the woman to raise her head up in surprise. She got out of her desk and walked over to a phone that was near the door. She picked up the reciever and spoke into it.

"Hello, Narumi Detective Agency, what can I do for you?" she said listlessly.

"_Narumi-san, is that you?_" a distorted, panicked voice asked. Narumi sighed and rubbed her temples with her free hand.

"Why do you intend on using that thing whenever you're on the damn phone? I know who you are, where you live and what you look like. It seems kind of pointless to me."

"_Come on, girl. You know I can't use my real voice when I'm talking with you. The PSIA and Oracle always track down the phone numbers of those they deem a threat and I'm no exception. Sure, I'm a well known Internet personallity with a popular blog, as well as a successful artist in nightclubs and raves, but I'm also an infamous hacker and that's all they care about. If I make a phone call without this disguise, they'll be knocking down my door, handcuffs and tasers in hand._"

"Okay, okay," Narumi conceded. "Getting back on track, what did you want to tell me?"

"_It's happened, Narumi-san," _the voice replied.

"What's happened?"

"_Three people have gone through a mirror._"

**(OST: Omen)**

Narumi stopped breathing when she heard that. "Are you sure?"

"_Yeah, I'm sure. My scanners picked up some strange activity coming from the Wakamono District. It's the same readings from when the first mirror showed up in Naniwa. Looks like it's in an abandoned building."_

"Which building is it, man? I need some information."

"_Well, you know that old factory the Kurihara group had 30 years ago?"_

"Uh-huh."

"_It's the same one."_

Narumi nearly dropped the reciever in shock. "You're kidding me."

"_The data don't lie, Detective. It's a mirror, alright."_

"Did you check the CCTV feed? Who headed into that building and why?"

"_Hold up right quick, give me a few seconds… and we got some profiles hot out of the oven."_

"Give me some names."

"_Alright. First, we have Mr. Kazuya Gavin, age 19. Born on April 12, 1995. A student at Kirimaru University, studying integrated animation. Active in the Close Relations Club."_

Narumi raised an eyebrow. "Close Relelations Club? What in the hell is that?"

"_It's supposed to be some kind of mixer where students from others schools get to know one another, but I think they're using it as an excuse to get lucky."_

Narumi let out a sigh of frustration. "Next person, please."

"_Next up, the lovely but vicious Asuka Kurihara, age 18. Born on January 6, 1996. Like Kazuya, she is a student at Kirimaru, but she is studying art."_

"Art? But I thought she was-"

"_Studying on how to manage her family's conglomerate? Yeah, a lot of people thought that too. Turns out, she straight-up refused to be the next head. Said she didn't want to be affiliated with an enterprise that's morally ambiguous as the Kirijo Group was."_

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let's not get too crazy here, pal. The Kirijo Group pulled off some bad stuff back then, but that's all over and done with," Narumi said.

"_Yeah, but the name still leaves a bad taste in peoples' mouths. You remember when some Kirijo reps rolled up in Naniwa a few years back?_"

Narumi chuckled. "Yeah, I remember. They demanded that the Kurihara Group merge with their so they can split their research together, but Kurihara called them out on using the research for their own ends. A lot of people know how shady Kirijo was back In the day, but they still hate them with a burning passion. Hell, I bet even you got some dirt on them."

"_Maybe I do," _the voice said._ "Now for the last one… wait a minute… what the hell is this?"_

"What happened? Some kind of an error?" Narumi asked.

"_I… I don't got nothing on the third guy, Narumi-san!" _the voice exclaimed.

"What?! How is that possible?!" Narumi shouted. "I thought you had tabs on everyone living in Naniwa!"

"_Well, maybe he's new here."_

Narumi took a deep breath and regained her composure. "Alright. Check the network and see if you can find anything about this no-name fool."

"_Sure, but what are you gonna do?_"

"What do you think?" Narumi snapped. "I'm going to Wakamono and follow those three idiots into the mirror."

"_Are you sure about that? I've been checking the scanners and Shadow activity is through the roof."_

"The Shadows are the least of our problems. If Oracle or the Puppets get their hands on them, it won't be pretty, I'll tell you that much."

"_Fine, then. Just watch yourself, will you?_"

Narumi smirked. "Do you know who you're talking to, kid? I'm the best private investigator in Naniwa. Watching myself is part of the job description."

"_Of course it is._" The call ended and Narumi put down the reciever.

"I just hope I'm not too late…"

* * *

Desolate Trainyard

10:54 AM

**(OST: Mirror/The Other Side)**

"This is beyond weird," Kai said, looking around. For some reason, the mirror that he, Kazuya and Asuka went through led them to what appeared to be an old trainyard. Only, this trainyard was abandoned and had an onimous feeling to it.

"Weird? That's a gross understatement," Kazuya muttered, looking up at the dark skies. "I'd say this place is straight-out freakin' disturbing. Are we even in Naniwa anymore?"

"I'll answer that with another question," Asuka cut in. "How are we going to get out of here?"

"Well, we went through a mirror to get here, so we'll have to find another mirror to get us out," Kai deduced.

"What about the mirror we just came out of?" Kazuya asked, pointing to said mirror behind him.

"We could, but it's probably got that whole 'no exit' deal to it. Still, wouldn't hurt to try."

Kai walked to the mirror and placed his hand on it, but no ripples appeared.

"Well, that settles it," Asuka sighed. "We can't go back the way we came in. We'll just have to find another exit."

"Sure seems like it," Kazuya agreed.

The trio walked around the trainyard, looking for another mirror that can get them out of this bizzare dimension. Instead, all they found were unused trains, broken tracks, twisted lightposts and- wait a second, twisted lightposts? How's that even possible?

"Why in the hell is that lightpole twisted like a pretzel?" Kai asked.

"Honestly dude, I don't have the foggiest idea," Kazuya answered, starting at the distorted object.

"If you ask me, whoever put this thing up wasn't paying attention," Asuka stated dryly.

"Must've been drunk or something," Kazuya said.

"If they were drunk, this… mess wouldn't be here and certainly not in this position," Asuka countered.

Kazuya shrugged. "Whatever you say, Princess."

Asuka was about to yell at him for calling her by that nickname, but was interrupted by sounds of gunfire.

"Is… is that gunfire?" Kai asked dumbly.

"Man, I hope not," Kazuya groaned. "I've had enough of that racket for one day."

Kai nodded in agreement. "That makes two of us."

They both ran off to the source of the gunfire, leaving Asuka by herself. She pouted in frustration and ran after them.

**I am thou… thou art I…**

Kai stopped running when he heard a voice. He looked around to who was talking to him, but nobody else was around.

"Hey, dude!" Kazuya shouted, snapping him out of his daze. He saw that he and Asuka was waiting for him. "You coming or what? We gotta check whatever's going on over there!"

"Y-Yeah, wait up, I'll be right there!" Kai answered. Catching up to them.

* * *

Desolate Trainyard

11:05 AM

**(OST: Awakening)**

"Let's go, up against the wall! Move!"

Two groups were currently in what appeared to be a gunfight. One group was wearing military-esque equipment, armed with batons and rifles, while the other group wore tank tops, board shorts and masks, armed with crowbars and automatic pistols. The first group is shooting at the other group, while rescuing hostages wearing lab coats. The other group were shooting back at the first group, defending them.

"You heard him, get outta there, now!" one of the masked men demanded, dragging one of the hostages out of a train car. Kai, Kazuya and Asuka saw the conflict up ahead, and quickly hid behind one of the train cars. Unfortunately, Kai's leg stuck out a little, allowing one of the soldiers to spot him.

"You there! Get your hands up!"

Kai gave Kazuya and Asuka the signal to remain quiet as he moved from the hiding spot with his hands up.

"I'm not here to cause trouble," he called out. "I'm just looking for a-"

"Drop the sword!" the soldier demanded, pointing his gun at him. Kai looked to the sword he was holding and raised it toward the soldier.

"You mean this thing?" he asked. The soldier took it as a hostile act and started to shoot. Before Kai could react, time around started to come to a halt. He looked around to see a bullet that was a few inches away from his face. He quickly backed away from it and grasped the hilt of his sword, but this time, he was able to take it out of its sheath. "Well, you sure picked a good time to come out," he said to the sword. As he was looking at the stainless steel of its blade, he sees that time begins to start up once again and the bullet slowly flies towards him. He looked at the bullet, then at the sword and came up with an idea.

"This had better work."

He raised the sword in swung it in a vertical motion, slicing the bullet in half. Time around him goes back to normal and the soldier who shot at him stared in shock.

"B-But how? I shot you!" he exclaimed.

Kai shot a smirk in his direction. "Guess time's on my side."

The gunfight between the two groups intensified. Kai was about go back to where his friends hid, but he was struck by a sudden mirgraine, causing him to stagger.

"Ugh…!"

**I am thou… thou art I…**

**Thy fate rests in thy own hands…**

Kai started breathing heavily as he grasped his temples with his free hand. He was in a dangerous situation and this headache of his wasn't making it better. He then felt a warm sensation in his right hand. He looked down to see that the sword he held now had a blue glow. Before he could react, he unconciously raised the sword horizontally and pointed it to the ground, preparing to strike it with his sword.

"Per…so…na…"

As soon as that word escaped his mouth, he swiftly struck his sword in the ground, causing a torrent of blue flames to surround him. He let out a roar as a large figure appeared from behind him as the flames diminished. It had a mesomorphic build and wore gray and white full-body armor and held two scimitars in its hands. It also appeared to be wearing a four-eyed, white mask with wings on the side. The eyes behind the mask glowed red. Kazuya and Asuka leaned out of their hiding place to see what was going on. They saw the large figure hovering behind Kai and widened their eyes in shock.

"What. The hell. Is that?" Asuka asked nervously.

"I don't know," Kazuya droned.

The soldiers and the punks stopped firing at each other to stare at the figure. Some stared in awe, while others shuddered in fear. One of the soldiers was freaked out and aimed his gun at it.

"SHOOT THE MOTHERFUCKER!"

He started to fire at the figure, but oddly enough, the bullets did not effect it. The soldiers started to fire as well, but the result was the same. No rounds were able to the harm the figure. Kai turned to the soldiers that fired and figure did the same. The near synchronization of their actions caused the soldiers to panic and rush at them, batons in hand. The figure took note of this and brought its swords together, creating a gust of wind that blew away the soldiers before they could even reach Kai.

"**You are not worthy, my opponents,**" the figure said in a cold, threatening voice. More soldiers came at them, but they were blown way just like their comrades. Eventually, they stopped trying altogether. After the dust settled, Kai turned around to face the figure with a shocked expression.

**(OST: Self Control)**

"What was that?" he asked. "Actually, scratch that. _What_ are you?"

The figure looked down at Kai, all four of it's eyes staring at him. He lowered himself to the around and kneeled down, placing its swords on its back.

"**I was once known known as 'That Which is Ordained', but you may call me… Shai.**"

"Shai, huh? Are you some kind of a god or something?" Kai asked.

The figure, now called Shai, nodded. "**That is correct, master.**"

Kai raised an eyebrow. "Master? What the hell are you going on about?"

"**You have summoned me at your time of need, therefore, you are my master,**" Shai explained.

Kai let out a heavy sigh. "Alright, alright. If I'm your master, then I'm your master.

"**Glad to see that you are getting into it, master,**" Shai said, smiling beneath its mask.

Kai facepalmed hearing Shai call him master. "Okay, first order of business, quit calling me master, okay. It's starting to get on my nerves."

"**But if you do not want me to call you master, what shall I call you?**" Shai asked.

"Well, call me by my name, Kai Kyozo."

Shai nodded. "**As you wish… Kai Kyozo.**"

"Just Kai will do, man."

"**Very well, Kai.**"

"That's more like it."

Kai saw Kazuya and Asuka run towards him. They took a glance at him, then at Shai.

"So, dude," Kazuya started, not taking his eyes off of the deity. "You wanna introduce your friend here."

"Sure. Shai, these two are Kazuya Gavin and Asuka Kurihara. Word of warning, those two fight like cats and dogs."

"We do not," Asuka hissed under her breath.

"Kinda," Kazuya muttered.

"**They do not seem to get along very well,**" Shai stated bluntly.

"I know," Kai agreed. "Oh, one more thing, do you know, where we can find a mirror?"

"**What do you need a mirror for?**" Shai asked.

"We need one to get back to our world," Kazuya explained. "If we're here any longer, who knows what might happen."

"**I am afraid I cannot assist you on that matter,**" Shai replied. "**But to more important matters, my energy is depleting. I must disappear for now.**"

With that, a blue glow surrounded Shai, turning the deity into a card which fell into Kai's hands.

"Wait, I've seen this before," he said to himself.

"Seen what before?" Asuka asked.

"Nothing, forget about it."

"Whatever."

Just then, a ringing sound came from Kai's pocket. He reached into it and picked up his phone. It was listed as 'unknown', but answered it anyway.

"Hello?"

"_You're still alive? Thank God,_" a femine voice sighed. Kai didn't recognize the caller at all.

"Who's this?" he asked.

"_That's not important. What's important is that you get out of there. It's a hot zone at the moment._"

"Yeah, no kidding. Where can we find the exit?"

"_Listen closely. Are you near a red train car?_"

Kai looked to his left and saw the train car he and his friends hid behind. "Yeah, we're near one."

"_Good. When you open it, you will find a mirror in there. When you see it, go through it."_

Kai opened the door and looked to see a mirror inside of it. "We see the mirror."

"_If you see it, what are you standing around for? Get your ass through that mirror!"_

The call ended after that. Kai leaned out of the car and spotted Kazuya and Asuka leaning against it.

"There's a mirror in here," he said. That was enough to get the two into the car and look in the mirror.

"Please tell me that's gonna take us back," Kazuya pleaded.

"We'll see," Kai answered, walking through the mirror. Kazuya looked at Asuka, who shrugged and walked through as well. Kazuya, not wanting to waste anymore time than he has to, walks through the mirror as well.

* * *

Wakamono District – Abandoned Building

11:05 AM

**(OST: Feel So Cool)**

Kai, Kazuya and Asuka walked out of the mirror to find themselves in the room in the old building. Asuka, being the drama queen she is, releases a huge sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness we made it out alive," she said, dropping to her knees.

"Are you always this dramatic?" Kai asked.

"Only when she needs to be," Kazuya answered.

Asuka stood up and glared at the two men. "Both of you shut up. Now, can we get out of this dump? My neck hairs are still standing on end."

Kai threw her a smug smirk. "Why? It's not like we ran into-"

"Don't. Even."

* * *

Wakamono District – Downtown

11:06 AM

The trio made it out of the building and started breathing in the fresh air. Clearly, they were glad to back to their own world.

"It's good to be back," Kazuya said, stretching.

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Asuka agreed, circling her arms.

"Yeah, it's great," Kai added. "Honestly, don't see how this can get screwed up all of a sudden."

"Me neither," Kazuya and Asuka said in unison. But, as usual, fate had other plans as two police officers walked towards them.

"If it's not too much trouble, we would like you three to come with us," one of the officers said. Kazuya facepalmed, Asuka dropped her jaw and Kai just stood their with an annoyed expression.

"I just had to say it…"

* * *

**KS: Yep, there are cops here. Wonder how Kai's gonna mack his way out of this mess. Anyway, next chapter, I'll have the stats of Shai put up. For those of you waiting to see Kazuya and Asuka get their Personas, just sit tight. They'll be coming in a few chapters soon. I'm out. PEACE!**


	6. Chapter 6: On the Down Low

**KS: All I have to say is this. Mothers are very stubborn creatures. Enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

Wakamono District – Downtown

April 29 - 11:08 AM

There's an old saying: 'the moment you think everything is going good, something bad comes out of left field and screws your day in every way imaginable.' Okay, it's probably not an actual saying, but surely there's one like it. More to the point, it's pretty much the situation Kai, Kazuya and Asuka are in right now. They managed to escape from the world within the mirror, but ended up being in the custody of the police and were now being escorted into the cruiser. Kazuya rubbed the back of his neck non-stop, while Asuka muttered some obscenities that almost sounded like they were in a foreign language. As for Kai, he began to nod off as soon as he got in the car. In fact, he's out like a candle.

* * *

Velvet Room

Unknown Time

(**OST: Aria of the Soul**)

Kai awakened and found himself in the same strange realm once more. He looked around to see if it was same one he arrived in.

"Endless body of water… check."

He then looked down at his feet.

"Blue velvet floor… check."

Finally, he looked at the two people in front of him.

"Weird old man with a long nose and some dude with a tablet… check."

"Hey, dude," Victor said cheerfully. "Welcome back to the Velvet Room."

Kai looked at him suspiciously. "Yeah… I have a question-"

"There is no need for alarm," Igor interjected. "You are sound asleep in the real world."

Kai blinked in confusion. "W-Wait a tic, if I'm counting sheep in the real world, what the hell am I doing here?"

"Don't bother questioning it, man," Victor answered. "It'll just give you a headache later on."

"Oh, for the love of… fine. But I do have one question."

"Fire away," Victor said.

Kai took a deep breath before yelling, "What in the flying fuck happened in there?!"

Igor and Victor exchanged looks with each other before turning to Kai once more.

"What, you mean you don't know?" Victor asked, grinnning widely.

"Huh?"

"You have awakened to your potential," Igor answered.

"What potential?" Kai asked, but then started to remember what happened the the alternate dimension. "You mean… Persona?"

Igor nodded. "Yes, your Persona. It is, as they say, a mask that helps oneself face hardships."

"Yeah, I know that but…" Kai rubbed his eyes before continuing. "Why is my Persona a god?"

"Well, it happens, man," Victor explained. "Personas come in a varieties, be it gods, monsters, demons and even historical figures. No two are ever the same.

Kai nearly dropped his jaw hearing that. "You mean… there's more of these things floating around?"

"Pretty much."

Okay, okay, I think I have a general idea of what's going on but… why?"

"What do you mean?" Igor asked.

"Why are you telling me all this? What's in it for you?"

"Ah, we're not asking for a lot," Victor replied. "We just hope that you'll stick with whatever choices you make and take responsibility for them."

Kai stared at them blankly. "That's it? That's all you want from me?"

"That is all we require," Igor said. "Until we meet again…"

Those were the last words Kai heard before everything around him turned dark.

* * *

Naniwa Police Department – Front Entrance

11:16 AM

"Hey, Kai? Kai? Wake up, we're here," Asuka said, shaking the aformentioned person who was sound asleep.

"Hey, shake him harder, will you?" Kazuya asked sarcastically. "He could get a headache from all that."

"Shut it, you," she hissed while shaking Kai. Pretty soon, he woke up. "Oh good, you're awake."

"Yeah, I'm awake," he groaned while rubbing his head. "Got a bit of a headache, though."

Kazuya opened his mouth to say something, but was quickly silenced by Asuka shooting a death glare at him. He sighed while getting Kai out of the police cruiser. Asuka followed and they headed into the in the building, escorted by the officers.

* * *

Naniwa Police Department – Interrogation Room

11:20 AM

Kai sat in a vacant room, sitting at a desk. He was well aware that the cops were going to grill him on what happened recently, and knew for damn sure that Kazuya and Asuka will get the same treatment.

"**Kai… Kai! Are you there?**"

Kai nearly jumped out of the chair when he heard a low voice in his head. But for some reason, it sounded familiar.

"Shai? Is that you, man?"

"**Yes, it is I,**" he answered. "**Even though I have not been summoned, I can still communicate with you through your thoughts.**"

Kai grew a fearful look hearing that. "M-My thoughts?"

He heard his Persona sigh. "**Yes, and I must say, you have some very disturbing thoughts. Especially ones involving a woman getting tortured.**"

"Uh-oh," Kai muttered.

"**What was the name of that woman?**" Shai asked himself. "**Fujimiya, was it not?**"

"Look, man," Kai said. "If we're gonna work like this, you gotta promise me that you'll keep the mind reading to a minimum, all right?"

"**That sounds reasonable,**" Shai replied. "**I agree to your terms.**"

"That's good. Real good."

Kai conversation his is inner self ended as a mature woman walked into the room. She stood in front of Kai and gave him a cold, hard look. Kai returned it with a harsh glare of his own.

"Kai Kyozo, right?" the woman asked.

"That depends. Who's asking?"

The woman grabbed him by his collar. "Someone who has very little time on her hands and not rather waste it squabbling with punks like you."

Kai let out a chuckle, which confused the woman. "What, your parents couldn't find a better name for you? Preferably something with eight words or less?"

The woman sighed. "Erika Narumi. That's Narumi-san to you."

"That's more like it. What can I do for you, Narumi-san?"

Narumi let go of his shirt and leaned in closer. "I want to know what happened near that old building."

(**OST: Hall of Mirrors**)

Kai swore he felt his heart stop beating. What exactly did she know about the incident there.

"Well, me and two other people ran into the joint to get away from some psychos shooting guns at us," he explained.

"The Wireless Puppets," Narumi hissed.

Kai raised an eyebrow. "What was that?"

"Nothing, kid. Anyway, what happened after you got into the building?"

"Well, we walked into a strange room with all sorts of crap inside it."

"Describe the… crap in the room, if it's not a problem."

"Well, first of all, there were no windows in the damn thing, so we couldn't find an escape route in case those maniacs followed us into the building."

Narumi nodded. "Go on."

"There was also a desk, a sword, some papers and a mirror. That's all what I saw in the room, I swear."

"Don't worry, I believe you… although, your last statement raises a question."

Kai felt his heart beating again, but at a panicked rate. "W-What are you talking about?"

"You claimed that there was no escape route in the room you were in, correct?"

"It's not a claim, woman. It's the truth," Kai insited There wasn't a single window in sight in that room."

"That is a possibility, but witnessess say that the men who shot at you followed you into the building. Now, are you certain that there wasn't an alternate escape route?"

"No."

"Well, the door to the room you occupied showed signs of being forced open… via explosives."

Kai dropped his head on desk. It was obvious that she wasn't fooled.

"Alright, you got me. There was an another way we got away from them."

"And that would be…?"

He took a deep breath before speaking. "The mirror."

Erika stared at him with widened eyes. "_He was right. They really did went through the mirror,_" she thought. "_But how?_"

Kai cleared his throat, bring Narumi's attention back to him. "Um… I hate to interrupt your train of thought, but can I leave now? And can you get those cops to release Kazuya and Asuka as well?"

Narumi let out groan of resignation. It appeared that was all she was going to get out of this kid. "Fine. I'll let you and your friends go, but you got to do me a solid here."

"What's that?"

"Don't tell anyone what you saw in the mirror world, and don't tell anyone about that… thing you did."

Kai immediately knew what she meant. "You mean my Persona?"

"Yes," Narumi said. "But don't tell anyone about it, okay? It might make you look like you've lost a few marbles."

Kai nodded. "Will do, ma'am."

Narumi gave him a warm smile. Kai could practically feel the appreciation from that one facial gesture.

* * *

**I am thou… Thou art I…**

**Thou hast established a new bond…**

**Thine fate shall be woven from this bond…**

**Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Justice Arcana…**

_Kai has established the Erika Narumi Social Link of the Justice Arcana._

* * *

"Whoa. Where did that come from?" Kai muttered.

"You say something, kid? Narumi asked.

"Nothing."

* * *

Kirimaru University – Cafeteria

12:08 PM

(**OST: Self Control**)

"That had to be the worst experience of my life," Asuka groaned, laying her head down on a table. The trio sat together at in the cafeteria, reflecting on what happened earlier.

"You are such a goddamn drama queen," Kazuya scoffed. "We were only in there for about 45 minutes, for God's sake.

"It felt like an hour from where I was sitting."

Kai paid no attention to their squabble as he focused on the dog tag. He couldn't help but feel it was somehow related to him summoning his Persona.

"Yo."

"Hmm?"

"Are trying to melt that thing with your gaze, dude?" Kazuya chuckled.

Kai glared at him, not amused with his joke. "Very funny, jackass. I'll have you know that whatever this is saved our hides back there. If I didn't pick it up, who knows what might've happened."

"We would've been killed," Asuka stated bluntly.

"Yes, thanks for the update, Princess Obvious," Kazuya muttered.

"Up yours," she groaned, flipping him off. Kazuya paid no mind to it.

"Ignoring her Her Highness' rude gesture, I think after what we've been through, lately, we can finally breathe easy."

"Hey, sweetheart~!" a sultry voice called out. Kazuya let out a frustrated groan and started to claw his scalp.

"Don't tell me," Kai sighed. "It's her."

"What was your first clue?"

Kai watched as the flirtatious guitarist walked to their table and sat next to Kazuya, making him uncomfortable.

"Do you need something, Hibana?"

Almost immediately, she brought him in for a bear hug, smothering his face in her large assets. "I needed to know if you were okay, my dear. I heard what happened down in Wakamono. Did those freaks hurt you at all?"

"No," he said, although it came out muffled due to the position he was put in.

"That's good to hear. You don't have to worry about anything, cuz I'm gonna take good care of you from now on," Hibana announced happily.

"Damn it, woman, I'm suffocating here," Kazuya groaned, trying to get out of the guitarists embrace. Kai just shook his head in disappoinment.

"So much for breathing easily," he said.

* * *

**KS: Would you look at that? First SL initiated in the story. What a start. (yawns) Man, I'm tired. I'll try to have the next chapter up in the next week or so, but I'm not making any promises. Good night and God bless.**

* * *

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	7. Chapter 7: Buried History

**KS: I apologize if I took too long to write this, seeing how college is really weighing down on me. Hopefully, I can get into this new course next month and get that hag off my back. Anyway, enjoy.**

* * *

Boys' Dorm – Room 216

April 29 - 9:30 PM

After classes ended, Kai and Kazuya headed back to their dorm room for some much-needed relaxation after the craziness they've been through. Kai was on his bed with his nose deep in a book, while Kazuya was at his desk, playing a video game on his laptop.

"Shouldn't you be studying?" Kai asked, his eyes still glued to the book in his hands.

Kazuya shrugged. "It's alright, dude. I usually cram after playing this and it keep my grades stable. There's no problem."

Kai scoffed. "You really believe that?"

"Hey, I've managed to keep my grades out of the red, so I'm cool with it."

"Uh-huh." Kai put the book the book down and walked over to the desk that Kazuya was currently occupying. "What exactly are you playing there?"

Kazuya's eyes lit up as he turned to Kai. "It's an amazing game, dude. You get to play as cute girls that are based off of a harmful substance and battle against other girls. I gotta tell you, it's freakin' awesome!"

Kai raised an eyebrow. "And what would be the name of this game, anyway?"

"Toxic Substance Girls: Poisoned Warfare."

Kai couldn't help but blink in confusion. "Wow, that's… that's quite a name. What genre is it?"

"TPS. That's short for third person shooter," Kazuya explained.

"I know what TPS stands for, dude."

Kai walked back to his bed and laid down on it. After a while, Kazuya paused his game and turned around with a serious expression.

"Look, we should talk," he said.

"Talk? About what?" Kai asked.

"You know, what went down in that old building, with the mirror, those goons and that… thing you summoned."

"**I am not a thing,**" Shai muttered within Kai's mind.

"Shai's not a thing," Kai defended. "He's my… what was it again? Persona? Yeah, that's it. He's my Persona."

Kazuya sighed. "Fine, your Persona. We should probably keep it a secret between the three of us."

Kai nodded. "Well, duh. I doubt anyone will believe that we went through a mirror and walked into a gunfight. That's the kind of thing that'll land anyone in a mental institution."

Kazuya chuckled. "That's true. I just hope that we don't have to get involved in anything crazy from here on out."

Hearing that made Kai frown a little. Kazuya's words seemed to have made his blood run cold. Deep down, he had a feeling that what he, Kazuya and Asuka went through was but only a prelude for something bigger than all three of them put together.

* * *

Unknown Location

April 29 - ?

In a dark room with little to no light, two men were having a conversation. From the sounds of things, one man expressed his disappointment towards the other man for some reason.

"So… you have failed in your task."

"…That is correct, Puppet Master."

"What was the reason for this?"

"Some kid stepped in and screwed everything up."

"…A kid, you say?"

"Yes, sir."

"How was a child able to interrupt your operation?"

"W-Well… H-He…"

"Speak, man. I can't understand you with all that stuttering."

"He used a Persona, sir."

"…Really, now?"

"That's correct, sir. The others noticed it, as well as a few lackeys from Oracle."

"Tch… so Oracle knows about this too, huh? This could be problematic."

"What do you suggest that we do next, sir?"

"Keep an eye on that child and guard any mirrors you come across. Also, if our operatives from the other side come in with new information, be damn sure that it gets circulated back to me."

"Of course, sir."

"Good. You may leave now."

* * *

Kirimaru University – Front Entrance

April 30 – 8:10 AM

Kai was standing near the entrance to Kirimaru, staring intently at his phone. He was on his way to his morning class when he heard his phone buzzing. He looked at it and saw that someone sent him a text telling him to stand near the entrance, but for some reason, neither the name nor the number of the sender was revealed. This was the reason why Kai looked as if he was attempting to set his phone on fire just by staring at it.

"You know, if you keep glaring at that thing, it might explode," a voice called out. Kai turned to his left to see Kazuya and Asuka standing right next to him. Kazuya had his usual sly grin while Asuka looked like someone spat in her coffee.

"Well, forgive me that I want to look over this text I got with no sender name," Kai snarked. "But enough about me. What are you two doing here?"

"Same reason as you," Asuka answered, pulling out her phone with Kazuya following suit. They both had the same text message saying to stand near the front of Kirimaru, but with no sender name or number.

"Honestly speaking, this can't be a coincidence," Kazuya spoke with a serious expression. "After what we've been through, of course someone is going to want to talk to us about it. The only question remaining is who this joker is and why they want to talk all of a sudden."

"That's two questions, moron," Asuka hissed.

"Don't get technical with me, exile," Kazuya shot back.

"Will you two please give it a rest?" Kai groaned. "We've got bigger fish to fry in case you haven't noticed."

"What, like getting that music bimbo away from Kazuya?" Asuka deadpanned. "I think that should be our top priority right now."

"We'll get to that matter at a later date, Asuka. But what I'm refering to is whoever sent us these texts."

"I have a feeling we're going to get the answer to that question soon enough," Kazuya said.

"What makes you think that, man?" Kai asked.

"You see that imtimidating-looking woman next to the red car over there?" Kazuya directed Kai and Asuka's attention to the parking lot where said car and said woman were at. "I got a gut feeling she's the one who sent us the text messages."

Asuka looked skeptical. "Are you seriously relying on your gut right now?"

"I think we should just go for it," Kai said, surprising her.

Asuka groaned. "What are you going to do when we meet her, ask if she's the one who sent us those messages?"

Kai and Kazuya looked at Asuka, then at each other, shrugged, and walked towards the parking lot.

"If you've got any better ideas, please let us know," they said in unison.

Asuka couldn't help but facepalm. "Typical men. No sense of tact or subtly whatsoever."

* * *

Wakamono District - Shopping Center

8:33 AM

Narumi brought Kai and his friends to the shopping center of Wakamono to talk about yesterday's events. Kai understood the reason for her request, but Kazuya remained impartial about it and Asuka showed signs of both hesitation and suspicion. They all sat at a table next to a coffee shop where everyone ordered drinks.

"Before we get started, I would like to apologize if I got in the way of anything important you planned to do," Narumi said.

Kai waved dismissively. "Don't worry, Narumi-san. It's not like had anything important planned."

"We had classes, _pendejo,_" Asuka growled. Kai was taken aback from the foreign curse and turned to Kazuya for some confirmation.

"Yeah, I forgot to tell you," he said. "The Princess exiled herself to Spain a while ago. Part of some big-ass art project or something. I don't know much about it and I don't really care."

Asuka glared at him. "Shut your mouth, _puto_."

Now it was Kazuya's turn to be taken off guard. "_Puto_? How am I a _puto_?" He turned to Kai. "What's a _puto_?"

Kai shrugged, drinking out of his cup before speaking. "Hell if I know, dude."

"Anyway," Narumi interrupted, getting back on topic. "I have called you here because there is something important I need to tell you."

"Was it so important that you're making us all late for class?" Asuka grumbled while crossing her arms.

Narumi shot a glare at her. "What, you in a hurry or something?"

Asuka scoffed. "No, I just like to be punctual is all."

Narumi sighed. "Listen closely, all you. I shouldn't have to be the one telling you this, but you're in danger. You all went through the mirror, saw things you shouldn't have seem in the first place and…" she pointed a manicured finger at Kai. "Your friend here can summon a Persona. There is no way they are going to leave you alone after that."

The trio couldn't believe what they heard. Somehow, their actions have led to them to being targeted by two unsavory groups, both with unknown intentions. And only God knows what would happen if either group were to capture them.

"I have a question," Kai said, bringing everyone's attention to him. "Who are these two groups you spoke of?"

"What, you've never heard of them?" Kazuya asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, seeing how I just arrived here… no, I haven't."

"Then I'll tell you the story," Narumi said. Kai slightly leaned towards the detective so he could get every detail of what she was about to say to him.

"Naniwa may look like a peaceful city to you kid, and quite frankly, I don't blame you for thinking that. But here's what you don't know: 10 years ago, Naniwa was _still _peaceful. That is, until the event happened."

"What event?" Kai asked.

"For some reason, a pile of shards started appearing in secluded parts of the city. Anyone who came in contact with these shards started to hallucinate, saying that they see different objects being warped and distorted. At first, it was no big deal, but the number of people hallucinating began to grow. Scientists from all parts of the country couldn't figure out how shards caused people to see distortions, no matter how much research they put into the things. But then, just when all seemed hopeless, there was a breakthrough. By some crazy miracle. this one scientist was able to find out where all those shards came from."

Kai was very interested. "Where did they come from?"

"A mirror," Narumi answered. "And this was not just your run of the mill, mirror. This was a mirror that allowed a person to cross over to another world."

"Just like the one we went in to escape those masked goons," Kazuya gasped.

Narumi nodded. "Exactly. That type of mirror led to a world that appeared to be similar to ours, but with one major difference: it was completely abandoned and certain objects were distorted."

"Like the lightpost we saw in the trainyard?" Asuka asked.

"That's right," Narumi replied. "So far, there has been no scientific explaination as to how or why these objects became distorted in the mirror world. The scientist tried to study them further, but all of their efforts were cut short."

"Cut short? Why is that?" Kai asked.

Narumi turned away while gritting her teeth in annoyance. "Because a certain group wouldn't allow them to."

Kazuya's eyes widened. "Certain group? You don't mean-"

"No, it wasn't the Kirijo Group," Narumi interrupted, waving her hand dismissively. "There hasn't been anyone affiliated with those jokers since… well, since I was in middle school."

"Well, if it wasn't Kirijo, then who was it?"

"Oracle Solutions."

Kai nearly spit out his drink when he heard the name.

"Something wrong, dude?" Kazuya asked.

"Oracle Solutions? Are you sure it's them?" Kai asked, staring intently in Narumi's eyes.

Narumi sighed. "I'm afraid so, kid. They were doing research on the mirrors too, only it was completely top-secret. And they didn't like the fact that other scientists planned to show their findings to the government."

"So they stole the research and kept it under lock and key ever since?" Kazuya asked, gripping his cup.

"Yep. They've been keeping their work under the public eye and since then, no one's been the wiser… until things got worse."

Asuka paled. "Worse? How did it get worse?"

"You know those scientists who originally worked on the mirrors before Oracle pulled their plug?"

The three nodded.

"Well, turns out those scientists had connections. Underground connections."

Kai's eyes widened. "What do you mean by underground?"

"Nothing too serious. Just a bunch of violent radicals with more ammunition than brain cells."

"Exactly how violent radicals qualify as 'nothing too serious'?" Kazuya deadpanned.

"They don't attack people, for one," Narumi said. "Plus, the only things they hit are government buildings that have sensitive information that they believe should be 'spread towards the people' or some crap like that."

"So they're one of those radicals who think the government is hoarding information," Kai said. "Who are these guys anyway?"

Narumi took a sip out of her cup before speaking "You might've heard me mutter the name while I was at the precinct, but I'll repeat it for you."

"The Wireless Puppets," Kazuya intervened. "A group of maniacs that enjoy busting into places loaded with sensitive informtion and distributing it to the people, not caring what kind of aftermath it will bring."

Narumi cast an annoyed glance at Kazuya. "I was going to say that, you little snot."

Kazuya shrugged. "Hey, first come, first serve."

"I don't have the complete facts, but I'm going to take a stab here," Kai said. "Oracle is hoarding mountainloads of information and these Wireless Puppets are willing to steal it no matter how many skulls they need to crack. Did I get it right?"

"Well, you don't have the full details, but at least you got the gist of it," Narumi replied. "And that brings me to my main topic."

"Exactly what is your main topic?" Asuka asked.

Narumi took a deep breath. "I need you three to go back into the mirror."

* * *

**KS: Back into the mirror? After what they've been through? Just what is Narumi's angle here? All of these questions will be answered... eventually. I don't know when I'll get back to this, so please be patient with me. On an unrelated topic, my poll regarding my BlazBlue harem story is still up, so go check it out and vote for which girl you want to appear next. I'm not going say who, but two girls are tied and we need to break it. If you have anytime on your hands, it would be greatly appreciated if you could break that tie. And for those of you who ask who's tied, go to the poll and you'll find out. Well, good night, everyone. I'm out. PEACE!**


	8. Chapter 8: Gear Up

**KS: Man, it's been too long since I posted the last chapter. So I'll just make this short. Enjoy.**

* * *

Wakamono District - Shopping Center

April 30 - 8:40 AM

(**OST: Sentimental**)

The trio had trouble registering what Narumi had just said to them. She requested that they return to the mirror after they nearly lost their lives in the otherworldly realm. What exactly did she have in store for them now.

"I'm sorry, but I don't want to go back there again," Asuka said quickly. "I think I've had enough near-death experiences for one lifetime."

"What are you talking about?" Kazuya asked in disbelief. "It was your first near death experience."

Asuka glared at him. "Actually, it wasn't. When I was in Mexico, I nearly got caught in the middle of a cartel bust."

The news caught Narumi's interest. "Go on."

"Basically, the cops have been trying to get these guys for years. They supplied illegal drugs and firearms to anyone who had the money for it. Eventually, one of the members came clean about it and that was end of it."

"So, the cartel got brought down by a rat, huh?" Kai chuckled. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen."

"It's not that simple," Asuka said. "The moment the cartel found out, they killed the guy who sold them out. Afterwards, they prepared to escape on a private jet with all of the drugs and guns they planned on selling. The cops knew about this and had the airport on lock down."

"Wait, wait, back up a bit," Kazuya interrupted. "Exactly how did you get caught up in it?"

"I happened to be in the airport that was locked down."

Everyone stared at Asuka. She was at the same airport that was locked down in order to bust a cartel, and she was talking like it was no big deal.

"Wow," Kai said in awe. "You must've been in shock."

Asuka scoffed. "Hell no. When they arrived at the airport, they took a hostage thinking that it would allow them to leave the country scot free."

"And I take it you were that hostage?" Narumi said.

"I was… for about 30 seconds."

"Get out of here," Kai said in disbelief.

"True fact," Asuka said with pride. "Those idiots thought that I was an easy mark just because I'm some delicate rich girl."

"I bet you proved them wrong," Kazuya chuckled.

Asuka crossed her arms and smirked confidently. "You bet your ass I proved them wrong. I paid good money for those self-defense lessons. After I broke the goon's arm, the others just fled to the cops like a herd of antelope fleeing a hungry lion. Best trip I ever had."

"Normally, I'd chew you out for acting so recklessly, but I gotta admit, you've stones for a girl," Narumi praised.

"Yes. But I still stand on not going into the mirror again."

"Oh, come on," Kai pleaded. "If you can handle some lowly gun runner, what's stopping you from exploring another world?"

"We don't know what's in that world," Asuka countered.

"We already know what's there," Kazuya interjected. "Masked freaks and security goons."

Narumi cleared her throat. "Actually, there is one more thing that's in the mirror world."

"Huh? There's something else in there?" Kai asked.

Narumi nodded. "Yeah. You could even say that… that thing was there long before the Puppets or even Oracle discovered the other world."

"Well, what is it?" Asuka asked anxiously.

Narumi took a deep breath before speaking.

"The Shadows."

Giving each other confused looks, the trio started looking around them, seeing various shadows. It was there that Narumi realized that she needed to be more specific.

"Not those kind of shadows. I'm talking about shadows of a whole nother variety."

Kazuya let out a dry chuckle. "What, these Shadows you speak of move like they're alive or something?"

The serious expression on Narumi's face seemed to have answered Kazuya's question, although the latter was in total disbelief.

"You have got to be freakin' kidding me."

"I'm not. In the mirror, Oracle and the Puppets may be formidible, but both group pale in comparison when it comes to Shadows."

"Um, quick question," Kai said, raising his hand. "What exactly is a Shadow?"

Narumi smiled. "Glad to see someone's interested. A Shadow is basically a monster that is born from humans and carry human emotions. Of course, majority of said emotions are negative. Those things have no intelligence and will attack anything that disturbs them."

Kai put a hand under his chin. "You don't say."

"But that's not all," Narumi continued. "While they have no intelligence, Shadows tend to have wills."

"Wait a minute," Asuka interrupted. "How can those monsters have wills and not intelligence?"

Narumi shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine, kid. Anyway, should a Shadow have a strong will, lesser Shadows will start flocking to it like moths to a candle. Guess what would happen if they shoud merge with one another."

"They make one big, powerful Shadow," Kai answered.

Narumi was really impressed with Kai. "Good for you, kid. You're on fire." She turned to Kazuya and Asuka. "You two should take notes from this guy."

"Why, because he took some lucky shots?" Kazuya scoffed.

"You know the old saying, kid: you miss a hundred percent of the shots you don't take."

"Don't expect any good shots from this fool," Asuka snarked. "He tends to misfire a lot."

"Hey, no one asked for your input, you damn exile," Kazuya shot back while glaring at he.

Asuka growled. "You wanna go, you smut hoarder?"

"Ahem."

Everyone turned to Narumi, who had an annoyed look.

"How about we put the petty squabling on the back burner and get back to the topic at hand, okay?"

"I second that," Kai said.

"Good. Now, the reason I want you guys to go through the mirror is simple. There's a data deposit that those Oracle fools left behind as soon as they saw a Persona. I need the three of you to go in there and get it out before they wise up and snatch their property back."

"Uh, Narumi-san," Kazuya said. "As much as I like sticking it to Oracle, what are Asuka and I gonna use to defend ourselves with? We don't have a Persona like Kai here."

"Not a problem," Narumi answered. "I know just the place."

* * *

Last Defense

9:04 AM

(**OST: Weapon Master [Store BGM]**)

"First time I've been in a weapon shop," Kazuya said. "And it's the first time I'm gonna buy from one too."

"Don't worry about it, kid," Narumi called out. "I'm paying for whatever catches your eye."

Asuka gasped. "Oh, Narumi-san, we couldn't possibly-"

Narumi raised her hand. "I will hear none of it. I'm paying for whatever weapon you like and that's final. Really, I insist."

Asuka sighed in resignation and decided to look around. The store had quite the selection of weapons. Aside from the typical firearm, there were swords, nunchucks, chakrams and so on.

"I was wondering," Kai said. "Where'd you find a weapon shop like this?"

Narumi shrugged. "Eh, it wasn't that hard to find. The owner and I go way back. Plus, people who buy the weapons only use them for decoration, so the cops don't hang around here."

Kai nodded in understanding. "That's pretty convient, Narumi-san."

"Don't mention it, kid."

Kazuya searched all over the shop to find a weapon that would suit him, but so far, his search bore no results. He walked up to the front desk and rang the bell.

"Yo, is anyone back there?" he called out?

"Just a second," a voice responded.

"If only we had a second," Kazuya muttered under his breath.

Soon enough, the storage door opened, revealing a young woman with dark skin, orange hair tied in a ponytail and brown eyes. She wore a gray long-sleeved shirt with a black vest over it, blue jeans pants and brown boots.

"What can I help you with?" the girl asked.

Kazuya exhaled before speaking. "I'm gonna be straight here. I'm the type of guy that enjoys throwing stuff."

"Uh-huh…"

"But I also like accuracy. It doesn't have to be perfect, but I want it accurate. And I was hoping you could help me find something that suits my tastes."

"Hmm…" The girl thought about this for a moment, then snapped her fingers. "I think I've got just the thing for you. Give a minute."

With that, she rushed back into the storage room. After a few seconds had passed, she came back out carrying a neatly-folded cloth in her hands. Kazuya eyed her suspiciously, wondering if she was messing with him.

"Now, I know what you're thinking," the girl started. "But let me clear things up for you. The cloth itself is not a weapon, but what's in the cloth…"

She unfolded the fabric and Kazuya's eyes widened.

"Is probably what you're pining for."

Kazuya couldn't believe his eyes. On the cloth were eight shuriken, all polished and sharpened.

"Wow," he breathed out. "Where did you get your hands on these?"

The girl let out a light chuckle. "Oh, we had those lying around for quite some time. I wondered if they would ever be purchaced.

Kai walked up to the desk to take a closer look at the shuriken. To say he was impressed was an understatement.

"These look badass, dude," he said to Kazuya. "You should take them."

Kazuya turned towards him with a big grin. "You know what? Maybe I will."

Just then, Asuka walked up to the desk with a frustrated expression.

"I take it you're having trouble selecting a weapon as well?" the girl asked.

"What was your first clue?" Asuka groaned.

"Maybe I can see what else is in there," the girl said as she disappeared into the storage room once more.

"Man, I wonder how much rarities she has in that room," Kai said.

"I'm guessing she's got every antique weapon from all the battles fought throughout history," Kazuya put in.

The girl came out of the room again, only this time, she carried a long stick with a small blade at the top.

"Is that… a polearm?" Asuka asked.

The girl nodded. "That it is, girlfriend. Sadly, this is the only we've got here."

"You mean, you don't have more of those?" Kai asked.

The girl shook her head. "Afraid not."

"What am I going to do with a polearm?" Asuka said, taking the object out of the girl's hands.

"You mean aside from killing Shadows with it?" Kazuya asked dryly.

"Shut it," she muttered. "I guess I could take this out for a test drive. It looks pretty cool."

"I think it looks cool too," Kai said.

Asuka smiled at his interest of the polearm.

"Well," Narumi said, walking up to the desk. If you two are satisfied with your choices, we can move on."

"Where are we going now?" Kazuya asked.

Narumi smirked. "You'll see soon enough." She put the money needed to pay for the weapons on the desk, then walked towards the front door.

"This is shaping up to be quite the trip," Kai said with mock excitement.

"You make it sound like we're going on vacation," Asuka groaned. "Don't you have any fear at all?"

"Nope."

Asuka muttered a few curses before leaving the shop. Kazuya eventually followed her, leaving Kai alone with the girl.

"So, will I see you again?" he asked.

The girl smiled. "Only if you want to."

"Great. Mind if I catch your name?"

"Natsuki Moriyama."

"Sweet. See you later then, Nat." Kai finally walked out of the shop, leaving Natsuki alone.

"Nat? Was that seriously the best he could come up with?"

* * *

Nagisa Pharmacy

9:19 AM

(**OST: Window Shopper [Store BGM]**)

The group arrived at a drug store to get supplies for the journey into the mirror. Narumi gave Kai a list of the items needed.

"Let's see here… medicine, medicinal powder, energy drink… what else do we need?" Kai asked, holding a list of items.

"Anything that will help keep you alive in the mirror world," Narumi answered. "The Shadow don't have intelligence, so they'll attack whatever they deem a threat."

"When you put it like that, it really sounds like these Shadows would give Oracle and the Puppets a run for their money," Kazuya said, picking up a bottle of medicine.

"Honestly, I could care less about the Shadows," Asuka huffed. "I just want to put those idiot Puppets in their place for causing my family so much grief.

"Ooh, getting the claws out already, exile? Didn't think you were _that _thirsty for blood," Kazuya teased.

"Shut it, you two," Narumi interrupted before the argument could escalate. "We need to focus on the topic at hand here. We don't need to fight among ourselves."

"Totally agree on that," Kai whispered.

"Whatever," Asuka said stubbornly. "I just want to get this over with."

"Same here," Kazuya added. "I got some things I need to take care of, and I want to be alive to do them."

As the three walked around the pharmacy, Narumi looked at them and let out a smile grin.

"These kids are such a motley crew of fools," she said to herself.

* * *

**KS: Would you look at that. Natsuki has a cameo here. Will we be seeing more of her? Only time will tell.**


	9. Chapter 9: Exploration

**KS: Enjoy. That's all I've got to say.**

* * *

Wakamono District – Abandoned Building

April 30 - 9:50 AM

Narumi drove the trio back to the old building so they could re-enter the mirror. But when they arrived, they saw that the police have surrounded the building, forbidding entry to unauthorized persons.

"Well, this is a rip," Kazuya muttered. "Now we'll never get into the mirror."

"Don't count us out just yet, kid," Narumi said. "They will let us in whether they want to or not."

Kai wondered what she meant as he and his friends exited the car. As they approached the building, the officers stopped them.

"Sorry, entry beyond this point is forbidden," one of the officers said.

Sighing, Narumi stepped forward and showed her badge. "You dumbasses seen anything like this before?" she asked sarcastically.

The cops took one look at the badge and suddenly stood up straight, saluting the woman.

"P-Please forgive us, Narumi-san!" one of them shouted. "We didn't recognize you out of uniform."

Narumi facepalmed. "Good Lord," she muttered miserably. "Is the department allowing idiots to join now?"

"Did you say something, ma'am?"

Her hand slid off her face as she regained her composure. "I'm going inside the building to see if I can find anything you idiots have overlooked."

"O-Of course, but we never got a report about-"

Narumi grabbed the officer by his collar and harshly glared at him. "Are you questioning me, punk?"

"N-No, ma'am. Far from it."

She shoved the officer onto the ground and spat in his direction. "Good. Now get out of the way. I got work to do."

She and the trio walked the past the officers and walked towards the building. When they got inside, Kai stopped Narumi to talk to her.

"Why did those cops look like they were gonna lose their nerve when they laid eyes on you?" he asked.

Narumi chuckled dryly. "Let's just say I'm well known around the local PD. Of course, my reputation is… less than desirable."

Kai groaned. "Please tell you're not one of those… you know."

"Yeah, don't worry about it, kid. You're not the first to think that I'm some no-good greasy cop."

"Well, that's a relief."

* * *

Abandoned Building – Mirror Room

9:51 AM

"So… this is the mirror you went through."

Narumi carefully inspected the mirror in front of her. It seemed ordinary enough, but given the testimony Kai gave her a few days ago, she started thinking that the mirror was not ordinary at all.

"Yeah, this is the one," Kazuya confirmed. "Anyway, now that we're here, where can we find this… thing you want us to get."

Narumi cast an annoyed glance at him. "The 'thing' I want you to get is a data deposit. Once we get our hands on it, we'll know what Oracle is planning from within the mirror world."

"I have a feeling that getting this desposit is going to be more difficult than expected," Asuka grumbled.

Narumi nodded. "Exactly. Since the Puppets and Oracle vacated the premises, there's a likely chance the Shadows will start lurking around. And far be it from me to tell you three this, but if you see a Shadow, don't hesitate to put it out of it's misery."

"Don't worry, Narumi-san," Kai said. "We'll get that deposit if it's the last thing we do."

"Good to hear, kid. Now, off you go."

Kai, Kazuya and Asuka walked towards the mirror. One by one, they walked through it, passing over to the other world.

"Good luck in there," Narumi said.

* * *

Desolate Trainyard

10:01 AM

(**OST: Mirror/The Other Side**)

"You know, I never thought I'd be caught dead stepping into this place again," Asuka said as she looked around.

"Somehow, it doesn't surprise me that you would say that," Kazuya replied.

Asuka turned to him. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, you were gung-ho on not returning to this ass-backwards dimension we came in, and here you are, spear in hand, ready to tear shit up."

Asuka flipped her hair. "I am not here to 'tear shit up' as you put it. I'm just here to make sure you two idiots don't screw everything up."

Kai rubbed both of his temples as he heard the two argue. He really didn't want to deal with their squabble this early in the morning.

"**I must say, those two argue like two cats fighting over territory,**" Shai stated from within his mind.

"Yeah. I've only known them for a few weeks and they always doing this," Kai groaned. "It's as if whenever they fight, they're blind to everything else around them."

"**Well, it's good thing they have you to keep them focused.**"

Kai nodded. "Good point, man. I think I will do just that."

"**Yes. As you humans would say it, no time like the present.**"

Kai chuckled. "Couldn't have said it better myself."

After talking with his Persona, Kai turned his attention to the arguing pair.

"Alright, alright, that's enough. Now, you better get it together, or I'll go and get that deposit myself. Surely, you don't want me to be alone with some big, scary Shadow now, would you?"

Kazuya and Asuka ceased their bickering.

"Great. Now that you've settled down, let's go get this done. Sound good?"

The two let out murmurs of agreement.

"Perfect." With that, Kai walked ahead, and Kazuya and Asuka followed suit.

* * *

The trio walked past a few trains, some of which looked to be completely rusted, like no one has ever used it for a decade. Even more surprising, they found more warped lightposts along the way.

"Well, seeing how we're in a mirror, it shouldn't surprise me that there would be more of these," Kai said plainly.

"You make it sound like you're used to this kind of thing," Kazuya groaned.

"Is that a problem?"

"No, what I mean is-"

"Both of you, shut up," Asuka hissed. "Something is coming."

"How can you tell?" Kazuya asked, lowering his voice.

"It's a gut feeling," she replied. "That, and the hairs on the back of my neck are standing on end."

"Makes sense."

They waited for whatever was going to about attack them. Kai gripped the hilt of his sword, Kazuya slowly reached into his pockets for his shurikens and Asuka gripped her polearm. They stood ready, not letting their guard down for a moment.

"Asuka, are you sure something is coming?" Kai asked.

"I'm sure of it," she reassured. "I can feel it."

Kazuya was about to add his two cents, but a loud rattling sound got his attention.

"What the hell was that?" he asked, looking around.

Kai immediately looked at the source, which turned out to be the distorted lightpost, which was shaking violently.

"I think that's what you're looking for, bro," he replied, pointing towards the lightpost.

Kazuya and Asuka turned to the convulsing object and had looks of confusion and trepidation.

"Okay, that goes beyond the legal limit of weird," Asuka said.

To make matters even weirder, the lightpost began to secrete a black liquid through the cracks and pooled around the lightpost.

"Alright, I've seen enough horror flicks to know where this is going," Kazuya said. "Kai, I think we should hurry along, get the data cache and get back to the other side before that... puddle decides we're hostile."

Kai nodded. "You're right. Let's go."

But before they could go anywhere, the puddle started to move. It rose from the ground and began to take the form of a hornet with red and black stripes, a stinger long enough to poke someone's eye out and for some unholy reason, a mask.

"I think this is one of the Shadows Narumi-san was talking about," Asuka said, staring at the monster.

Kai's phone began to ring. He answered it without a second thought, having a good idea as to who may be calling him.

"Is that you, Narumi-san?"

"_Of course it's me,_" she responded over the phone. "_I take it you finally encountered a Shadow?_"

"Yes, we have. It's some kind of wasp thing."

"_Okay, then. What you've just encountered is a Lethal Stinger. It's basically harmless on it's own, but if there's more of them, you're in a whole lot of trouble._"

"That's good to know, 'cause one just made its appearance to us."

"_Then there's only one thing left to do. Make it regret it was ever born!_"

Kai smirked. "Narumi-san, you just read my mind. We'll be done with this bug in no time."

"_Glad to hear it._"

The call ended after that. Kai took his sword out from its hold and pointed it towards the Shadow.

"Dude, are we gonna fight that thing?" Kazuya asked.

"It's not like we have a choice," Kai replied. "Besides, it's only one bug. nothing we can't handle."

"I hope you're right," Asuka said.

(**OST: Fight Theme**)

Kai let out a roar as he charged towards the Shadow, to which it responded with charging towards him as well. Soon, sword and stinger clashed as man and monster fought. Kai blocked and parried every strike that it gave him, but couldn't seem to land a blow.

"You sure put up a hell of a fight for a bug," Kai said as he swung his sword. "But know this: I'm pretty good with a sword."

He dodged the attack from the Shadow and struck, cutting it in half. It dissolved afterwards, reduced to dust.

Kai smirked as he sheathed his sword. "That's another bug exterminated."

He turned to see his companions, who stared at him wide-eyed and agape.

"Glad to see that you two are still in one piece," he said. "I hope I didn't steal too much of the spotlight."

"...That had to be the worst one-liner I've ever heard."

Kai's face fell. "Come on, that was a good one. It was a bug, and I exterminated it."

Kazuya shook his head in disappointment. "Yeah, I'm gonna have to agree with the exile here, bro. That one-liner sucked. And not just the normal kind of suck. I'm talking vacuum cleaner powered by a black hole suck."

Kai scowled and walked off. "Let's just go and get that data."

* * *

It took some time, but the three managed to find the data cache Narumi was talking about. It was a small, cylinder-shaped object with several with yellow lines. Needless to say, they were a little be underwhelmed.

"This is the data cache Narumi-san mentioned?" Asuka said. "I expected it to be a laptop or something."

"Maybe Oracle's going through some kind of a budget crisis," Kazuya added. "Or they couldn't find a better design for a data cache. And why would they place it in an abandoned station? The Wireless Puppets could've sniffed searched here and found it before we did."

"Whatever reason they had for keeping it here is irrelevant," Kai interjected, putting the device in his pocket. "We got what we came for. I say we get out of here before another one of those Stinger things show up."

Kazuya and Asuka nodded, instantly agreeing with Kai. They walked out of the station, but Kazuya stopped for moment as something caught his eye. He looked down to see a dog tag, similar to the one Kai had.

"No way," he whispered. He put the item into his pocket and caught up with the others. Kai took out his phone and called Narumi.

"We got what you needed, Narumi-san. Just point us in the direction of the nearest mirror and we'll have this sumbitch giftwrapped in no time."

Narumi let out a dry chuckle. "_Always got to be the comedian, eh Kyozo? Anyway, the nearest mirror is about five meters away from where you're standing. I suggest you get over there and back to our side of the world._"

Kai nodded. "No more needs to be said. We'll be on our way."

"I hate to tell you this, but none of you are leaving here alive."

Kai froze when he heard the threatening voice, and Kazuya and Asuka did the same. They slowly turned around to see a man wearing a red tank top, black shorts and black boots standing behind them. He also wore a gas mask, pads on his knees and elbows and carried what appeared to be a flamethrower.

"Hey, Narumi-san?" Kai said, not moving his eyes from the man. "We got a bit of roadblock here."

"_Yeah, I see it,_" Narumi replied bitterly. "_That's one of the Puppet's lackeys. Apparently, they're known as Roasters. I'm sure I don't need to explain why they're called that._"

"No, this guy's armed with the reason for their name."

"_Alright. I'm sure you're not going to like this, but you're gonna have to fight him._"

"Kai," Asuka said swiftly. "Give me the phone, now."

He handed the irate exile his phone.

"Narumi-san, why didn't you tell us we'd be dealing with Puppets?" she hissed. "I thought there were only Shadows lurking around in this world."

"_Well, I do remember mentioning the Shadows inhabiting the mirror world, but I probably should've mentioned that some Puppets would be skulking around there as well. Anyway, you're not gonna be able to get away from this guy. Your best chance is to kick his ass and get some info out of him._"

"Easier said than done."

"_You won't know unless you try, princess. I got faith in all of you. Good luck._"

The call ended and Asuka handed Kai his phone.

"Let me guess: we're gonna be fighting that dude, aren't we?" Kai asked.

Asuka nodded.

"Well," Kazuya said as he brought out his shuriken. "I was waiting for a chance to get back at those creeps for shooting at us. Guess it's time to collect."

Kai brought out his sword. "Yes, yes it is."

Asuka looked at her companions, then at the Roaster and sighed as she spun her polearm.

"I swear, if we don't get out of this alive, I'll kick both of your asses in the afterlife," she muttered.

* * *

**KS: Alright, first official Shadow and boss battle... which will come next chapter. **

* * *

**Enemy Data**

**Lethal Stinger**

**Arcana: The Magician**

**Level: 1**

**HP: 30**

**SP: 40**

**Skills: Pierce Attack**

**Weak Against: Wind**

**Strong Against: Ice**


	10. Chapter 10: Resolve

**KS: Whew... I made it back. Man, college is a pain in the ass. But, I finished what I was doing and now I can get back to my favorite pastime: writing fanfics and waiting for reviews. Enjoy.**

* * *

Desolate Trainyard

10:29 AM

(**OST: Urban Sprawl**)

Kai made the first move as he charged towards the Roaster. He swung at him with precision, but he managed to block it with no problem with his flamethrower. The struggle between the two gave enough time for Asuka to attack the Roaster from the left and Kazuya from the right. She hit him in his side with the blunt end of her polearm while Kazuya threw some of his Shurikens at him, where one managed to get itself stuck on his kneepads.

"Argh!" the Roaster growled in pain as he was hit by Asuka's attack. He staggered a bit, allowing Kai to hit him in the head with the sheath of his sword.

"That oughtta put him out of commission for a while," he said.

"I hope so," Kazuya replied. "Hey, why didn't you cut him with your sword?"

Kai scoffed. "I don't feel that it's neccessary to spill any blood." He turned to Kazuya and gave him a hard look. "Is that a problem?"

Kazuya shook his head. "Whatever floats your boat, dude. Truth be told, I'm not one for mindless slaughter either."

"That makes three of us," Asuka added. "Now let's hurry up and beat this _puto _so we can get our _culos _out of here."

The Roaster glared at the group through his mask and let out low growl. "You know, I thought a couple of university students were a bunch of easy marks." He reached behind him and pulled out a crowbar. "Maybe I shouldn't judge a book by it's cover."

He charged towards them and swung like a madman, like he intended to kill them. Kai and Asuka were able to dodge his strikes, but Kazuya was not quick enough and was brutally struck in his kneecap.

"Agh! Damn it!" Kazuya cursed as he fell to the ground.

"You alright, man?" Kai asked, concerned for his friend.

Kazuya attempted to stand up, but his injury caused him to drop down once more.

"I... don't think so," he groaned. "Looks like he got me good."

Asuka runs towards him. "Hold on, I'm-"

Before she could even reach her fallen ally, a vicious stream of fire blocked her path. She turned to the Roaster, who finally turned on his flamethrower.

"No way are you getting off that easy," the Roaster said. He waved the flamethrower in a sweep-like motion, spreading fire around. Kai ran to Kazuya and dragged him away from the man, proping him up on a barrel.

"You just hang here man, me and Asuka will take care of this creep," he said.

Kazuya was crestfallen. "Are you out of your mind, dude? There's no way you two can take him on by yourselves!"

"Yeah, but if you try to face him in your condition, you're sure to be the first to be burned.

"And you think you won't?"

Kai gave him a hard look. "Just trust me, bro. If by some miracle, that knee of yours heals up, you can join us."

Kazuya grit his teeth in frustration. He felt useless, being forced to sit on the proverbial bench while his friends fought against a psychopath with a flamethrower. But Kai was right. With his injury, he wouldn't be able to defend himself, let alone the others.

"Go then," he said bitterly. "Don't let me slow you down."

Kai noticed the pained expression on his face. Whether it was from the injury or the fact that he had to sit out for the time being, he didn't know. He left him and went back to Asuka, who was having some trouble with fighting the Roaster.

"Come on! Is that all you've got?" he taunted. "Looks like you rich brats really are all bark and no bite. The Puppet Master is gonna be pleased when I find out I took down a Kurihara."

Asuka was panting heavily, sweat pouring down her face and her grip on her polearm slowly weakening.

"I'm not through just yet, you son of a bitch," she growled.

The Roaster broke in laughter. "Not through yet, she says. You look like you're gonna pass out any second now. If you want my advice, give up and I'll... try to make your death quick."

Kai gripped his sword and glared at the Roaster. "If there was time to use this, now would be the time."

He raised his sword and pointed it towards the ground.

"Let's go... PERSONA!"

He struck the ground and strong gusts of wind appeared behind him. Emerging from the wind was his inner self, the deity of fate itself... Shai.

"**I see you have summoned me,**" he said. "**Are you in need of my assistance?**"

Kai sighed. "You don't know the half of it." He pointed to the Roaster. "You see that guy over there?"

Shai looked to where he was pointing. "**You mean the one with the flamethrower?**"

"No, the guy behind him," Kai deadpanned. "Of course the one with the flamethower. Help me put him out of commission."

Shai frowned. "**Your sarcasm is unneeded. But I will assist you in this endeavor...**"

"Thanks man-"

"**So long as you cut back on the sarcasm,**" Shai finished.

"No promises."

Shai sighed. "**I thought as much.**"

Kai and his Persona raced towards the Roaster, wanting to take him down immediately.

"Holy crap," he gasped. "That's the thing the other guys saw when they were fighting off those Oracle punks." He aimed his flamethrower at the large figure. "If I take it down, the Puppet Master is sure to reward me handsomely."

Fire spouted out and the stream of flames hit Shai directly at his chest. But to the Roaster's shock, he was unaffected.

"**Did you really think that would affect me?**" he boomed. "**You're more foolish than I thought.**"

The Roaster growled in frustration. "You think your pet demon will scare me, kid? You've got another thing coming!"

He aimed his flamethrower at Kai and shot fire towards him, but for some reason, he just smirked.

"Shai... do it."

"**With pleasure,**" Shai replied. He swung his swords, creating a gust of wind to block the flames.

"W-What the?!" The Roaster reeled back in shock from seeing his attack being nullified.

Kai let out a chuckle. "Looks like my friend's full of surprises, isn't he? Well, he's got a hell of a lot more where that come from."

"That's right," Asuka said, standing up straight. "And don't even think for a second that I'm done."

Kai turned to Asuka with a big grin. "Now that's what I'm talking about."

Asuka grinned back. "I guess you're rubbing off on me, _vato_."

* * *

(**OST: Epiphany**)

Kazuya looked as Kai and Asuka stood against the Roaster. To say that he was frustrated would be nothing short of an understatement. His friends were out there, willing to fight to their last breath while he was stuck behind them, benched over an injury. His sense of helpless grew like an untreated tumor.

"This sucks," he hissed to himself. "I shouldn't be sitting here. I should be out there, helping them. Instead, I'm stuck here like some helpless wimp. What good am I to anyone if I can't help out those who are less fortunate than I am?"

Despite his injury, Kazuya attempted to stand up, using the barrel he was leaning on for support.

"I'm not going to sit on my ass and watch my friends get burned by this bastard."

He managed to stand up completely, although he gripped his injured knee and staggered towards the battle, his determination growing with every step he took.

"This time, _I'm _gonna be the hero, and I'll be damned if anyone tries to stop me."

* * *

"Hit him again, Shai!" Kai called out.

"**With pleasure,**" he boomed, casting more wind towards the Roaster. The gusts were not as strong before, seeing how he was resisting the attacks.

"Ha! Is that all you got?" he taunted as the wind blew in his face. "I'm barely feeling anything here."

Kai grit his teeth. "Damn. It's like he's shrugging it off." He turned to his Persona. "What's going on, man?"

"**It appears that my magic power is depleted,**" Shai replied. "**I am unable to perform Garu with the amount I have now.**"

"Garu? That's the name of your wind trick?"

"**Yes, and in order for me to use it, I need magic power. Do you happen to have any items to replenish your magic power?**"

Kai groaned. "No, all we got were painkillers. I doubt that's going help us."

Asuka paled. "So... that's it? We've come all this way just to die at the hands some flamethrower-wielding maniac." She dropped to the floor and her polearm fell from her hands. "I never though I'd say this, but I regret ever meeting you, Kai Kyozo. I'll see you in Hell."

"You might want to take that back, exile," a voice called out.

Kai and Asuka turned around to see who spoke out to them. Imagine their surprise when the speaker turned out to be none other than-

"Kazuya?!"

Yeah. Kazuya. Big surprise there.

"That's my name, don't wear it out," he said, limping over to them. "Did you really think I'd let you have all the fun?"

"But your knee..." Asuka started.

"I took some painkillers, so it doesn't hurt as much now," he explained. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to pay that guy back for trying to take me out of the game."

The Roaster laughed obnoxiously. "You? Beat me? You can't even stand up right. You've literally got no chance!"

Kazuya smiled darkly and raised a shuriken. "You know the old saying..." He drew his arm back, preparing to throw the shuriken. "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take!"

He threw the shuriken with a great amount of effort and flew through the air. At first, it managed to stay in the air for a period of time, but it slowly began to decend. Surprisingly, before it reached the ground, it bounced the shuriken that was lodged into the Roaster's kneepad and fell to the ground.

"Huh," the Roaster said, looking down at the object. "Looks like you missed pal." He turned on the flamethrower. "It's a good thing I won't miss with my weapon!"

Asuka swiftly turned to Kazuya. "_That's _what you call a comeback?!_ Estupido idiota! Hijo de las mil putas! Que te folle un pez!_"

Kazuya paid no attention to Asuka's foreign insults, as he felt a strange sensation throughout his body... a cold sensation.

"Dude, are you alright?" Kai asked.

Asuka, on the other hand, continued with her curses. "_El burro sabe mas que tu! Vete al infierno!_"

"Asuka!" Kai shouted. "Cool it for a minute, will you?"

"How can you tell me to cool it, you _cabrón?!_" she shouted. "This idiot knew he was injured and instead of recovering like he should, he..."

Once again, Kazuya drowned out the insults from Asuka and instead focused on the cold feeling washing over him. He started to breath heavily from the sensation, which now grew stronger.

"Ha... ha..."

Sounds came from his mouth, which were at first quiet, but soon dissolved into screaming.

"HAAAAAAAAA!"

(**OST: Hotshot**)

A gust of cold air appeared behind Kazuya, which soon started to form a large column of ice.

"Hey," Kai said, staring at the large ice block. "Is that what I think it is?"

"**Yes,**" Shai replied. "**Kazuya is awakening to his potential.**"

Small cracks began to form on the ice block, which gradulally became larger until the whole column was covered in cracks. Soon, it shattered completely, revealing what was inside.

"No way," Asuka gasped.

Inside the now-broken ice was a slender figure with pale skin and black tribal markings on both arms and legs, as well as a brown helmet with long horns sticking out. But what made the figure stick out are the brown wings attached to his legs, but did not appear to move.

"**It appears I've made it to the party before it was over,**" the figure said in a sinister, yet playful voice. "**Now, who was the lucky sap who brought me here?**"

Kazuya turned around and his eyes nearly fell out upon seeing what he had inadverantly summoned.

"W-Who are you?" he stuttered.

The figure lowered itself to Kazuya's level. "**I'm certain proper etiquette requires one to introduce themselves first.**"

Kazuya blinked. "Oh, right. I'm Kazuya Gavin. And you are..."

"**Heyoka. You can call me that,**" the figure answered.

"Alright, I can live with that," Kazuya replied, then turned to the Roaster. "You see that clown right there?"

Heyoka turned around and saw the aformentioned person. "Yeah, what about him?"

"I need your help in taking him down."

"**Oh, so a bit of a revenge hit, eh?**" Heyoka clasped his hands together. "**I like the sound of that. Let's put him out of his misery, then.**"

Kazuya swiftly turned to Heyoka. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, cool it, man. We don't need to kill him. We just need to knock him down a bit."

"**Hmm...**" Heyoka thought about this for minute. While the thought of killing the Roaster resided in his mind, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to keep his hands clean this one time.

"**Alright, Boss, we'll do it your way,**" he said.

Kazuya grinned. "Great."

The Roaster growled. Normally, when one saw a large monster assisting a person, the normal response would to be to flee in terror. But in the Roaster's case, he was more frustrated than ever.

"Alright, enough screwing around. I don't care if you've got some giant monster on your side. You're all going down!"

Once more, he turned on the flamethrower and aimed it at Heyoka, intending to burn the monster to the ground. If anyone could see Heyoka's expression through his helmet, they would see that he was not the slightest bit amused.

"**Ooh, looks who's got a flamethrower,**" he said in mock fear before scoffing. "**Give me a break.**" He raised his hand towards the stream of fire and summoned cold wind that somehow managed to freeze it solid, much to the Roaster's shock and anger.

"What the- you're gonna pay for that you-"

He got cut off when he felt cold around his waist. When he looked down, he saw why.

"What in the... how did I get frozen!? This is impossible!"

Heyoka smirked underneath his helmet and turned to the group.

"**I have to say... that was pretty cool, wasn't it?**"

Everyone apart from Kazuya groaned at the bad pun.

"Just for the record, in case I get one of those... Persona things, I hope it doesn't end up like... that," Asuka said grimly.

* * *

Abandoned Building

11:01 AM

(**OST: Feel So Cool**)

The group brought the Roaster back to their dimension, along with the data cache Narumi requested. She gave the Roaster, who was still frozen from the waist down, to the cops so he can be taken in for questioning. When they asked her why he was frozen, she responded with this:

"Look, you don't get paid to ask questions, and I sure as hell don't get paid for answering them. So shut up."

Those words alone, along with a cold look that could freeze every circle of hell was enough to make the guards slowly back away before breaking into a mad dash towards the nearest cruiser.

"I gotta say, those guys sure fear you," Kai quipped.

Narumi gave a light shrug. "Well, they have to. How else are they gonna stay in line?"

"Good point."

"Well," Asuka said, stretching her legs. "I don't know about you, but when we get back, I'm going straight to bed." She glared at Kai and Kazuya. "And I don't want to see either one of you _pollas_ for a week."

"What?" Kai, putting on a look of mock hurt. "What did we ever do to you?"

"You dragged me into a mirror."

"You joined us of out of your own volition."

"Only because you guilted me into it."

"When did we guilt you into doing anything?"

Asuka's started twitching in irratation, fighting off the urge to yell at him. She huffed and stormed off, muttering obscenities in Spanish with each step she took.

"**She has quite the temper,**" Shai noted. "**Hopefully, she doesn't burn herself with her own fire.**"

Kai chuckled. "I wouldn't rule it out, man."

He noticed Kazuya standing near a garbage can, scrolling through his phone. He walked over to him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Yeah?" he said, not lifting his gaze from his phone.

"Listen, man," Kai started. "I never had the chance to say back when we were in the mirror world, but... you helped us out of a potential jam and I wanted to thank you."

Kazuya stopped scrolling, then put his phone in his pocket and turned to Kai with a smirk. "Hey, don't worry about it. I was just doing what I can to look out for the people I care about. All I ask is that you do the same for me."

Kai nods firmly. "You got it, man. We got each other's backs."

Both of them bumped fists, showing appreciation for each other's vow to look out for one another. It was there Kai heard the voice once more.

* * *

**I am thou... thou art I**

**Thou hast established a new bond...**

**Thine fate shall be woven from this bond...**

**Thou shalt be blessed when fusing Personas of the Magician Arcana...**

_Kai has established the Kazuya Gavin Social Link of the Magician Arcana._

* * *

"Well, I'll see you in class," Kazuya said, walking off.

"Yeah, I'll see you too," Kai called out. He was proud to have another bond with someone he could trust.

"**I sense the bond between the two of you,**" Shai said. "**And it has yet to grow stronger.**"

Kai smiled. "You might be on to something there, partner."

* * *

**KS: Alright! Social Link Get! (laughs) I just had to do that. It seemed a lot funnier in my head. I'm cool like that. Anyway, Kazuya awakened to his Persona, which is pretty cool in its own right. Now, a lot of you might remember me saying that I'd put the stats on Shai here, so I'll make this brief. I plan to make seperate chapters featuring the stats of the Personas and enemies they heroes will encounter. Until then, I'm out. PEACE!**

* * *

**Social Links:**

**01: Magician Arcana (Kazuya Gavin): Rank 1**

**07: Justice Arcana (Erika Narumi): Rank 1**


	11. Chapter 11: Persona and Enemy Stats I

**KS: I just want to set the record straight here. This is the first official time I have done this.**

* * *

**Persona Stats**

Shai

Arcana: The Fool

Inherit: Wind

Reflects: N/A

Absorbs: N/A

Block: N/A

Resists: Wind

Weak: Electricity

**Current Skills**

Garu: Deals light Wind damage to 1 foe.

Cleave: Deals light Phys damage to 1 foe.

Rakukaja: Increases 1 ally's Defense for 3 turns.

Emetology: Shai was was the deification of the concept of fate in Egyptian mythology. Without any reason for associating one gender over another Shai was sometimes considered female, rather than the more usual understanding of being male. His name reflects his function, as it means (that which is) ordained.

Heyoka

Arcana: The Magician

Inherit: Ice

Reflects: N/A

Absorbs: N/A

Block: N/A

Resists: Ice

Weak: Fire

**Current Skills**

Bufu: Deals light Ice damage to 1 foe.

Re Patra: Assists 1 ally who's been Knocked Down.

Dia: Slightly restores 1 ally's HP.

Emetology: The heyoka is a kind of sacred clown in the culture of the Lakota people of the Great Plains of North America. The heyoka is a jester, who speaks, moves and reacts in an opposite fashion to the people around them.

* * *

**Enemy Stats**

Lethal Stinger

Arcana: The Magician

Phys: N/A

Fire: N/A

Ice: Strong

Elec: N/A

Earth: N/A

Wind: Weak

Light: N/A

Dark: N/A

**Current Skills**

Bash: Deals light Phys damage to one foe.

Bufu: Deals light Ice damage to one foe.

Hateful Roaster

Arcana: The Emperor

Phys: N/A

Fire: N/A

Ice: Strong

Elec: N/A

Earth: N/A

Wind: Weak

Light: N/A

Dark: N/A

Current Skills

Bash: Deals light Phys damage to one foe.

Agi: Deals light Fire Damage to one foe.

* * *

**KS: I hope I did something right there. Expect more of these to come later on in the story.**


End file.
